Inevitable
by Corinne
Summary: Story Completed! Let me know what you guys think!
1. Default Chapter

"Hey Bobby," Corinne said, calling out one of the security guards standing in front of the group of people gathered around the area where the wrestlers were pulling in.  
  
"Remember me?"  
  
Bobby wrinkled his brow, knowing that he had met her before but could not for the life of him remember when.  
  
"Uh, no. I swear, I'm sorry, I recognize your face but I can't put a name."  
  
"Well, it was a few years ago. The last time you saw me I had a friend with me. Do you remember anyone named Melissa...well I called her Mel? We were really silly; we were waiting for the wrestlers to come out of the garage and you talked to us for like two hours. You told us about your cop twin brother with no neck."  
  
Bobby smiled. "Wait a minute. I remember you! Corinne, right?" It was rare for him to actually have long conversations with the people who came the arena night after night, but he remembered the two girls who had both tried their damnedest to get backstage. He laughed out loud as more memories came to his mind.  
  
"You asked me if you could push your friend in front of the Hardy boy's car so you could take a picture. And then you said that you would take over the post for me, and asked me to give you my shirt. How could I forget!"  
  
"Yep, that's me." The crowd, who had been listening to the conversation in amusement, looked back and forth at the girl who seemed to be in her early 20's and the security guard. But then a car began to pull up and everyone began yelling out, "Oh my god, it's the Undertaker!"  
  
Bobby allowed the fans to take their pictures, and looked at Corinne whom he had remembered to be a hardcore fan, but was now not taking pictures.  
  
"Hey, don't you want to pull out a camera and snap some shots?"  
  
"Nah, I'm going backstage tonight."  
  
"How'd you manage that? No matter how funny you were, I'm still not letting you get back there!" Bob said smiling.  
  
"Not necessary bud, I work for the WWF." Corinne said, smiling as about ten people from the audience stared at her with their mouths hanging open, thinking that she didn't look like a wrestler at all.  
  
"Oh sorry, I'm not a wrestler! I just work for the company," she quickly said.  
  
"Oh," came the general reaction from the crowd.  
  
"Well lookie here. What do you do there?"  
  
"Oh, I'm an accountant. But I also minored in communications so their having me start writing some columns now and then." Corinne said looking down at her watch.  
  
"Well it was really nice seeing you again..." Corinne began. But the crowd began to yell again.  
  
"It's the Hardy Boys!" The car slowed down and Matt waved from the drivers seat, while Jeff just put his head down.  
  
"Hey, you going around backstage tonight? You're gonna look for the fruity boys aren't you?" Bob said, remembering how Corinne and Melissa had tried their damnedest to get backstage in order to see them.  
  
Corinne narrowed her eyes, and tried to look serious, but couldn't and ended up laughing out loud.  
  
"Oh god, we were so stupid. But yes I am, is that all right with you? I've only been working here a few months and I haven't used my backstage ticket yet. And they are not fruity!"  
  
"Well since you work for them now, I can take you around if you want. Where are you sitting?"  
  
"Right in front on the floor."  
  
"Whoa...Look who's getting the good seats now! How'd you manage that?" Bob asked knowing that even most of the employees got seats in the regular rows and not usually on the floor.  
  
"I flirted with the guy that gives out tickets." She said seriously.  
  
"Are you serious?" He asked incredulously.  
  
"Yeah, hey I'm just an accountant. Nothing major. I had no other tools."  
  
"Oh man, I want to hear this story. I'll come by. I don't think I'm working during the show."  
  
"All right. See ya later!" Corinne said waving to him.  
  
As she left a short, bald security guard came up to Bobby.  
  
"Hey Bobby, who's the girl? She's pretty cute."  
  
"Oh come on Jose, the kid's like 21 if not just 20."  
  
"Really, hmmm young blood. How'd you meet her, you cradle robber you," the man said, elbowing Robert in the ribs.  
  
"What the heck are you talking about? I am almost 40 years old. She's just a kid. I met her a few years back at another wrestling match with her friend. She works for the WWF now."  
  
"Hmm, interesting stuff. So you don't think she's cute?"  
  
"Well yeah, but she's too young. Seems like a good kid though, maybe I'll hook her up with Ben."  
  
"Your little brother? I thought you said she was a good kid."  
  
"She is. So?"  
  
"So why in god's name would you try to set her up with your brother?"  
  
"Oh, yeah…. hey! He's a good kid, he just needs…"  
  
"A beating? Or a plunger to get out whatever the hell is stuck up his butt?"  
  
"Hey, that's my brother you're talking about."  
  
"Is the little bunghole here tonight?"  
  
"Yeah. So don't introduce them?"  
  
"Not if you think this girl is a nice one. No offense man, but your brother is the devil incarnate. He's not like you or Andy."  
  
"Yeah, guess so. Let's hope he doesn't notice her then. She looks like his type."  
  
"Umm…leggy, exotic look? Whose type isn't she?"  
  
"You forgot possibly under 21 which means she really shouldn't be either one of ours."  
  
"Hey…as long as she's legal."  
  
"Sicko," Bob said, before beginning to put the barrier up. 


	2. First Meeting

Chapter 2  
  
Corinne pulled out a pad and pen to take notes during the matches. So far nothing exciting had happened yet or at least nothing worth writing about. The matches that had taken place were X-Pac vs. Billy Gunn, Eddie Guerrero vs. Perry Saturn, and a tag team match between the Dudley Boys and the Acolytes. She shivered as she felt cool air in the arena.  
  
She pulled on a gray sweatshirt over the dark gray boat neck tank top she wore with black capris and smiled at the little blonde girl about four years old who had just sat down next to her who was holding one of the Hardy Boyz foam hands wearing a huge lime green hardy boy shirt. The little girl grinned back, and clapped her hands in excitement.  
  
"Hi!" She said to Corinne jumping up from her seat.  
  
"Hi. So, you like the Hardy Boys?" She asked, knowing the answer.  
  
"I love them! They're the best ever." The girl said hopping after every syllable she spoke.  
  
"Sweetie, sit down." The girl's mother said, holding her daughters shoulder and pushed her gently down. She smiled at Corinne.  
  
"So are you one of the wrestlers your boyfriend?" She asked after handing her daughter a bag of cheerios from her purse.  
  
"Oh no, why do you ask?"  
  
"Oh, because the only reason we got this seat was because of my husband, and since I've met all of the other wrestlers wives, I just figured you had to have a boyfriend or a friend here."  
  
"I just work for the WWF. Who's your husband?" Corinne asked, thinking that the little girl had looked familiar. Just as she said that the lights all turned off and a huge burst of pyro was heard. Then Jericho's music hit and all of the fans cheered wildly. As he came out, the little girl grabbed Corinne's hand to make her stand up.  
  
"Daddy!" She yelled, pointing at him then let go of Corinne's hand so that her mom could pick her up.  
  
He walked past them and had Corinne not been so amazed and watching him intently, she would have missed him wink at his daughter, who just waved as he walked by.  
  
Corinne winced as she heard Jericho hit the mat hard. The little girl tilted her head and looked up at Corinne. She touched her shoulder tentatively and said:  
  
"Don't worry, Daddy says it doesn't hurt a lot when he does that." She said, nodding at Corinne as if to convince her.  
  
"Ok, thanks for telling me," Corinne said, smiling at her reassuringly while the little girls mother mouthed a thank you behind her.  
  
"Guess what?"  
  
"What?" asked Corinne.  
  
"I'm not supposed to tell people that he's my daddy." The little girl whispered as if in conspiracy.  
  
"Oh," Corinne whispered, then quickly jotted down a few notes about the crowds reaction. She would have to go to the RAW the next day and compare the reactions and actions of the crowd along with the wrestlers.  
  
As the match ended, and the crowd cheered for Jericho's win, his wife turned towards Corinne.  
  
"I'm sorry, I never introduced myself. I'm Taylor and this is Julia."  
  
"What's your name?" Julia asked, pushing herself in between her mother and Corinne.  
  
"My name's Corinne." They shook hands and then the little girl grabbed her mom's hand and pulled her down closer to her.  
  
"Mommy, I wanna see Daddy now."  
  
"Alright honey but don't you want to see the Hardy Boys?" Taylor asked stalling, because she knew that Chris didn't like to see his daughter right after a match since he was usually getting iced up or in pain from the match. He usually needed at least ten minutes to calm down.  
  
"But their not coming on yet, come on Mommy."  
  
"Umm, wait a minute sweetie." Taylor said.  
  
Corinne noticed that Taylor didn't seem to be too eager for her daughter to see her husband.  
  
"Hey, Julia, wanna tell me about the Hardy Boys?" Corinne asked, as the Big Show's music came on.  
  
"Ok! They're friends with my Daddy. They always bring me good stuff." She said happily and at least for now seemed preoccupied. Taylor smiled at Corinne in relief and shook her head.  
  
"Really? When I was younger they were my favorite too. Umm which one of them do you like better?"  
  
"Jeffy's funny, but Matt is real nice. He calls me his lil' half pint. Mommy what's a pint?" She asked, as if just wondering this now.  
  
"It's a kind of measurement sweetie. Matt calls you that cause you're little."  
  
"Oh," she said contemplatively.  
  
"I guess I like em both same. How about you?" she asked Corinne.  
  
"I liked them the same too. But I think sometimes I like the way Matt looks more than Jeff." Corinne said, and then blushed when she realized Taylor had heard what she had said and had raised an eyebrow at the comment.  
  
Just then Robert came up to Corinne.  
  
"Hey, they're bringing people backstage now, if you wanna come, I can take you now, just make sure you got your pass. Or else I ain't taking you." Bobby said gruffly, figuring that Corinne would know he was kidding.  
  
Taylor, who didn't know that Corinne knew Bobby interjected in what she deemed to be a rude and obnoxious comment.  
  
"She doesn't need a pass to get backstage, we'll take her." Taylor said.  
  
"And who are…" Bobby began thinking that it was one of Corinne's friends, but then realized that it was Jericho's wife whom he had met earlier in the day.  
  
"Oh, Mrs. Irvine, I didn't know you were sitting…" Bobby mumbled.  
  
"Taylor it's ok. I know Bobby, he wasn't being rude." Corinne said.  
  
"Mommy, I want Corinne to meet Daddy," Julia said, feeling left out since the adults had taken over the conversation.  
  
Taylor looked down at her watch.  
  
"Well I guess we can go, there's three more matches before the Hardys come out and an intermission. How about it Corinne?"  
  
"Umm, sure, that'd be great. Let me just find my pass," Corinne said bending down to her purse and rummaged through it.  
  
"Don't worry about it, you'll be with us," Taylor said, and laughed when Corinne triumphantly pulled out a closed envelope holding the pass.  
  
"Ah hah, found it! Oh, it's okay…besides I've never used this thing."  
  
"Your purse is like mommy's purse but smaller." Julia said.  
  
"Jule's, my purse has to be big because I have all of your stuff in my purse. I can never find anything." Taylor said to Corinne, as they began to walk towards the backstage area.  
  
"Sweetie, stay close to Mommy okay?" Taylor said, to her daughter, but once through the swinging doors and Julia caught sight of her father she let go of her mom and ran to him.  
  
"Daddy!" She yelled as she wrapped her little arms around his legs.  
  
"Hi baby," Chris said, picking her up, and tried not to wince as the tightness in his shoulders got to him. Taylor saw the expression on his face and quickly took her daughter.  
  
"Hun, you okay?" She asked concernedly.  
  
"Daddy?" Julia asked worriedly.  
  
"I'm okay, now that my girls are with me." He put his arm around Taylor and kissed her on the lips then kissed his daughter on her forehead.  
  
"Chris, if it hurts go to the trainer now," Taylor said seriously.  
  
"Tay, it's alright. I'm…"  
  
  
  
"Chris!"  
  
"Alright, alright I'll go see the trainer…" he mumbled, then smiled for his daughters benefit.  
  
"Dad'll be right back ok? Just gonna go get an ice pop."  
  
"Grandpa's an ice Pop!" Julia giggled since she called her grandfather that, after finding out that he had been a hockey player.  
  
"Hey, umm Taylor I didn't know you were bringing a friend with you?" Chris said as he walked by Corinne.  
  
"I'm Corinne, I work for the WWF. I just met Taylor and Julia outside."  
  
"Oh, nice to meet you. You a writer?" Chris asked.  
  
"Ah, kind of. More of a substitute really, I'm just helping out a friend."  
  
"Alright, well stick around, I'm sure Tay will talk your ear off."  
  
"Chris, go!" Taylor said, and Chris just smiled and walked away.  
  
"He never wants to show Julie when he's hurt," Taylor whispered to Corinne as Julia began playing with the foam hand that she was still clutching.  
  
"Is that my lil' half pint?" a deep voice said from down the hall.  
  
"Matt!" Julia yelled and ran to him.  
  
He picked her up and she kissed him on the cheek, the rubbed her little palm on his face and giggled as the hair tickled her hand.  
  
"So what have you been doing?" He asked.  
  
"I was watching Daddy, he went to get some ice. Look Matt, I got a shirt."  
  
"Yeah, you got my shirt," Matt said as he walked to Taylor, then noticed the tall woman standing near her in the shadows.  
  
"Hey TayTay," he said then looked at Corinne.  
  
"Hi, I'm Matt Hardy." He said extending a hand, still holding on to Julia who was now playing with his hair.  
  
"Uh, Hi." She said, as he took her hand and shook it swiftly.  
  
"This is mine and mommy's friend Corinne, we just met her today." Julia said as she pulled up his ponytail distractedly on top his head.  
  
Corinne and Taylor looked up and cracked up since Matt looked ridiculous since Julia was still holding up his hair.  
  
"Jules, wanna put my hair down?" Matt said a little embarrassed.  
  
"Nope, you look funny Matty." She said giggling and placing another wet kiss on his cheek. Suddenly there was a loud yell down the hallway.  
  
"Oh my god! It's Queen Jules," Jeff said and he ran towards her, while Julia struggled to get out of Matt's arms.  
  
"Jeffy!" She said, and then laughed loudly as Jeff grabbed her and threw her up into the air.  
  
Taylor shook her head.  
  
"This is why she loves them so much. They have the same mentality. Jeffrey over there has the mind of a four year old and Matt….Matt's hair is still messed up." Taylor said laughing out loud and Corinne who had been staring at Matt couldn't help but laugh either.  
  
Matt quickly took down the ponytail and fixed it, smoothing the strands of chocolate brown hair only to be mussed again by his brother who gave him a noogie before running away with a laughing Julia. He fixed his hair again.  
  
"Umm, so, Corinne, what brings you here?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah, I never got a chance to ask you that either." Taylor laughingly.  
  
"Oh, umm I was just asked to basically write a short article on the difference between the house shows and the broadcasted shows. Essentially to make house shows sound good since attendance hasn't been up to par as in the past years. But I'm just doing this as a favor for a friend, I'm really just an accountant. And I've only been working for the WWF for a few months."  
  
"So you live in Stamford?" Matt asked.  
  
"Brought up there." She said.  
  
"Well Matt, we'd love to stay and chat but I wanna introduce her to more important people than you. Since you haven't worked here for very long, have you met Mark Calloway? Or Steve Williams? Or Jeff?"  
  
"Hey, Taylor, Jeff is not more important than me!" Matt declared.  
  
"Yeah whatever." Taylor said, pulling Corinne with her as she walked down the hallway to find her daughter.  
  
Matt looked appreciatively as Corinne was pulled down the hallway with Taylor.  
  
"Ugh, I hate this shoulder!" Chris Irvine grunted when he came out of the trainers room with a huge icepack wrapped around his right shoulder.  
  
"Hey, where's Taylor going and where's Julie?"  
  
"Julie's with Jeff and Taylor is gonna introduce Corinne to the other wrestlers." Matt said not taking his gaze away from the women's backs.  
  
"Hardy, you better be looking at Corinne and not my woman." Chris said, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"She's cute huh?"  
  
"My wife? Thanks I think so too, that's why I married her," Chris said purposely misunderstanding Matt.  
  
"I meant Corinne."  
  
"I know, but I don't know much about her. Is she a writer?"  
  
"Nah, an accountant."  
  
"Oh forget about it bud. That means she's in the office, meaning not much traveling and no chance for you." Chris said.  
  
"I meant like ask her for a date. What is with you and Jeff? It's like every time I show even a hint of interest in a girl, you guys just go insane."  
  
"Umm, it's cause you don't show any interests in girls. I mean since Amy got with…"  
  
"Chris, I'm over her. We had an agreement; I just didn't think she'd end up with new so quickly. I guess I just got used to always having her around."  
  
"What agreement? You never told me about…umph," his daughter jumped into his arms and interrupted Chris.  
  
"We're gonna go watch you now Matt!" She said giggling as her father tickled her. Taylor came too and wrapped her arm around Chris.  
  
"Is it better now honey?"  
  
"It's fine, can't even feel it with all this ice on it."  
  
"Where'd Corinne go?" Matt interrupted  
  
"She went back to talk to one of her friends. I think he works here." Taylor explained just before a stagehand came and told Matt that Jeff was waiting for him in their locker room.  
  
"Come on sweetie, let's go back to the ring so Daddy can finish dressing and we can leave right after the Matt and Jeff wrestle okay?" Julia nodded slowly, and Taylor could see that she was getting tired so she picked her up and brought her back to the audience. 


	3. Problems Arising

Chapter 3  
  
Ben walked out into the arena angrily, after having been yelled at by Jose to stay at his post. He liked hanging around backstage, especially when the wrestlers came to town. He was planning on going back too until he saw his older brother Bobby, talking to a pretty, tall girl with dark brown hair. He couldn't see her face, but from what he could see of her, he had no complaints.  
  
He stood behind her, waiting for an introduction and frowned as he realized the smile on his older brothers had disappeared as soon as Bobby had caught sight of him. Corinne felt the change in Bobby's attitude and turned around and encountered a guy who looked to be a younger version of Bobby, close to her own age.  
  
"Um, Corinne, this is my little brother, Ben." Bobby said, handling the introductions.  
  
"Ben, this is a friend of mine, Corinne." They shook hands and Ben smiled his infamous slow side grin, which usually drove girls crazy. It was about to have the same effect on Corinne when the Hardy Boys music came on and she turned towards the ring and excused herself.  
  
"It was nice to meet you Ben. And I'll talk to you later Bobby. Bye now!" She said, quickly running back to her seat.  
  
"Who was that bro?"  
  
"Oh, you know a girl I met a few years ago. She works for the WWF in Stamford, I think she might be dating one of the wrestlers," Bobby said, blatantly lying and hoping that it would fend off his brothers obvious interest in Corinne.  
  
"Yeah? Which one?" Ben asked, noticing that Bobby couldn't quite meet his eye.  
  
"Umm, I think one of the Hardy Boys. Yeah, the bigger and older one."  
  
"What's his name?"  
  
"Umm…" Bobby thought, then the announcer said:  
  
"Weighing in at 225 pounds, Matt Hardy!"  
  
"That's him. Matt Hardy."  
  
Ben narrowed his eyes at his brother and mumbled, 'good save' under his breath but somehow got the feeling that she wasn't really with the wrestler. 


	4. CH 4

Chapter 4  
  
Matt and Jeff came out as usual to a huge pop from the crowd even though Amy wasn't with them that night. Jeff of course was back in his usual high, jumping up and down and dancing all the way to the ring, while Matt was a bit more subdued. Corinne had run back to her seat just to see this match, between Matt and Jeff vs. Gregory Helms and Shannon Moore, a throwback to the Invasion era. However, now both Greg and Shannon had turned their backs on WCW and had become WWF Superstars in the course of the past year. When she arrived to her seat, Julia was standing up on hers and eagerly raised her hands up in the air for Corinne to pick her up. Taylor shook her head.  
  
"Jules, want me to pick you up?" She asked her daughter.  
  
"No...want Corinne to!" Julia said jumping up into her arms.  
  
"I'm so sorry. I think she's just tired already so she'll bossy the rest of the night."  
  
"Oh, don't worry about it Taylor. Want me to bring you closer to the ring?" Corinne asked as Julia nodded eagerly and Taylor shrugged her shoulders.  
  
Matt smiled when he saw Corinne and Julia and Taylor shaking her head embarrassedly as Julia reached out and grabbed Jeff's hair as he walked by.  
  
"Oh my God, Julie let go," Corinne said, trying to pull her away.  
  
"No! Wanna play with Jeff," Julia said, and refused to let go, even when Taylor came up to retrieve her daughter.  
  
Matt ran up as Jeff yelped when Julia tugged harder. "Hey Jules, come on baby, let go of Jeff's hair."  
  
Greg and Shannon didn't know what to do as they waited in the ring for Jeff to disentangle himself from the little girl who now had three people trying to pull her away as the audience looked on in confusion and amusement.  
  
Greg grabbed a mike from the announcer and said, "See that's why you don't color your hair! It probably looks like candy to the poor kid! What a loser!"  
  
He succeeded in drawing peoples attention away from the tug of war occurring as he and Shannon made cracks at the Hardies. Julia giggled, saw the angry expression on her mother's face and immediately jumped from Corinne's arms and into Matt knowing that she had done something wrong and would get in trouble for it.  
  
"Matt, don't let mommy get me!"  
  
"Julia Marie Irvine, you are in so much trouble!" Taylor's voice shook in anger as she jumped over the barricade set up around the ring, pulled her daughter out of Matt's arms and dragged her backstage as the match began and Corinne sat down to watch, unsure of how to react to the situation. After the match, Corinne took down some quick notes at the fans reaction then ran backstage when she realized that Taylor had left her purse at the seat. 


	5. CH 5

Chapter 5  
  
"Damn it, Ben, I told you to go back to your post."  
  
"Damn it, Jose," Ben said mockingly, "I came back here cause Bobby wants a list of everyone who got a backstage pass tonight. He said Lewis wants a copy." Ben smirked to himself, knowing that Jose would never disobey Bobby nor question Lewis who was their boss.  
  
"Oh, sorry. Hold on let me get it." He took out a clipboard and handed it to Ben. "Do all the WWF employees park in the same place?"  
  
"If they're on the list, they parked near where the wrestlers park. Now go back to your post and stay there."  
  
"Fine...damn short asshole." Ben mumbled under his breath then looked down at the list when he got away from Jose.  
  
"Hmmm, Corinne Miller." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his older brother Andy's work number at the station.  
  
"Hey Andy, it's Ben."  
  
"Hey little brother, you're not causing any problems are you?" Andy asked, thinking that Ben sounded a little too happy.  
  
"Nah, I'm cool. I just need a check on a Corinne Miller. Need to know what car she drives and license plate info."  
  
"Why's that? You know I can't give away that info." Andy said.  
  
"Oh well this girl isn't feeling too well, and can't remember where she parked her car. I was just wondering if you could give me the info so I could point to the tow truck guy where it is and her family will come and pick her up."  
  
There was silence on the other line. "You sure about this Ben? You're not messing around with me are you?"  
  
"No of course not Andy, come on. Where's the trust?"  
  
"Where's Bobby?"  
  
"Working, which is what I should be doing right now. Look just gives me the info alright?"  
  
"Ok fine," Andy said typing up the info and gave in to his brother.  
  
"Gotcha, 92 Gray Ford Escort....hmmm shitty car....CT license plate 924-MMH. Thanks a mil bro." Ben said, smiling gleefully as he hung up the phone. 


	6. CH 6

Chapter 6  
  
Matt looked down at the seat where Corinne had been during the match and was surprised to see her not there. He had never been quite as aware of a person as he had been with her during this match. It was as if every single move he made, he wanted to know the expression on her face, whether she was concerned, in awe, scared. As he and Jeff made their last pose he ran out of the ring and into the back where Corinne was standing near Taylor holding her bag for her since Julia was crying in Taylor's arms, her little face buried in her mother's neck. As he came closer he could hear the little girl sniffling and hiccupping letting him know that she had been crying for quite some time. Chris came out of the locker room and took Julia out of Taylor's arms and shook his head.  
  
"Jesus, did she really grab Jeff like that Matt?" Chris asked.  
  
"I'm so sorry Matt, I don't know why she did that. Chris I'm taking her to another match for a while. I think she might have been trying to impress Corinne, she's not usually like that." Taylor said.  
  
"It's okay. I'm gonna take a shower, you guys still gonna be out here?" Matt asked, looking pointedly at Corinne but expressed the question generally.  
  
"I don't know," Taylor said and Corinne didn't think that the question was directed to her so she didn't answer. Matt realized that he was standing there like an idiot and immediately ran to the locker room hoping that she'd still be outside when he finished.  
  
"I'm sorry Corinne, that must have been embarrassing," Chris said, his concern for his daughter making him oblivious to his friends plight.  
  
"It's okay. Umm, listen Taylor you forgot your purse outside."  
  
"Oh thank you so much." Taylor said. Julia looked up and sniffled. "I'm sorry Corinne. I'm sorry Mommy." She said in a soft little voice.  
  
"It's okay baby." Taylor said and took her out of Chris' arms.  
  
"Chris will you please get your bags, it's been a long night!" Taylor sighed heavily as Chris went back into the locker room.  
  
"Can you believe we only met each other a few hours ago? This is crazy." Taylor said.  
  
"Yeah I know, are you guys going to the RAW show tomorrow night?" "Yep, oh you're going right? Let me give you my phone number and you can come have dinner with us. Are you staying at the Hyatt?"  
  
"I was actually just gonna drive up tomorrow."  
  
"Why? Don't do that! Listen, just call up the hotel and get a room. Tell them you're an employee. Drive up tonight!" Taylor said excitedly then lowered her voice as Julia stirred.  
  
"I'll think about it ok. If not I'll still call tomorrow to have dinner." Corinne said, as Chris came out of the locker room.  
  
"Dinner? Will I be invited?" He asked, taking his daughter away from his wife.  
  
"No, since we're probably gonna go before RAW." Taylor said, writing down her cell phone number and handing it to Corinne then took one of the bags from Chris's shoulders. "You call me anytime tonight if you're staying at the hotel."  
  
"If? Aren't you going to RAW?" Chris asked.  
  
"Oh, she's driving up tomorrow night instead of sleeping there."  
  
"Why? Corinne, seriously, you've been embarrassed by our daughter, and my wife who loves to talk, loves to talk to you. I can make a few phone calls if you want and secure you a room now."  
  
Corinne laughed and said once again, "I'll seriously think about it, but I was gonna go to work for a few hours tomorrow, if I can get out of it I will. Drive safely you guys!" She called out as they exited the backstage area.  
  
She picked up her purse and pulled on her sweatshirt to get ready to leave the arena.  
  
"Hey! Were you just about to leave without saying good-bye to me?" 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
"Bobby! Of course not, what was I thinking," Corinne said exaggeratingly.  
  
"I knew it, of course not. Well you, you're actually normal. I'm very happy you didn't end up being one of those groupies."  
  
"Groupies? I was never gonna become a groupie..." Corinne said then paused as if to think about it.  
  
"Yeah right, I forgot, you already were one." Bobby said, laughing at the insulted expression on her face.  
  
"Shut up Bobby. I gotta go." She said looking down at her watch, and noted that it was around 11:30 and it took 45 minutes to get to her house.  
  
She had to make a phone call now. She took out a business card and handed it to Bobby. "You know you're a pretty cool guy, once you get over the whole I'm higher than you cause I can go backstage phase. We should hang out and I'll bring Mel next time."  
  
"Sure why not." Bobby said, smiling as he realized that he had actually found a friend in the girl he had once made fun of. Bobby was locking up the last of the doors when he realized he hadn't seen his little brother in a while. He called up Jose on the walkie talkie.  
  
"Yo, Jose, where's Ben?"  
  
"I don't know man, I haven't seen him since he asked for that list of people with the backstage passes. Said you asked for them." Jose responded.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"You know, you asked for a list of the backstage people. Ben said you needed it."  
  
"Hmm, that's weird." Bobby thought, although he could feel a strange feeling in his stomach but before he could think about it anymore Matt and Jeff walked out of the locker room.  
  
Jeff's hair was still soaking wet and he tried to dry it as fast as possible with a towel, which had once been white but was now a light green color. "Matt why are you rushing me?" Jeff asked, shaking his wet hair.  
  
"Damn, she's gone already."  
  
"Whose gone?" Jeff asked.  
  
"Corinne."  
  
"Corinne? The girl with Taylor and Jules, the one with the curly brown hair, tall and...?"  
  
"Yep, that's her. Oh well, guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to ask her out."  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You were gonna ask out a girl and you didn't tell me? What is this?" Jeff kept right on mumbling that even as Matt walked over to Bobby.  
  
"Pardon me, but have you seen..." Matt began.  
  
"Corinne?" Bobby said, smiling at Matt's surprised expression.  
  
"Yeah, you know her?"  
  
"Yeah, well sorta, we had a brief encounter a few years back when she was just a fan of yours. She just left. Had to make a phone call she said."  
  
"Oh. Well thanks man." Then walked quickly back to the locker room.  
  
"Yo, Matt. What's the deal?" Jeff said.  
  
"Maybe we can still catch her." As the guys walked back out to the parking lot, Bobby's cell phone rang.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey Bobo...is everything alright with that girl?" Andy asked.  
  
"What girl?" Bobby asked bewilderedly.  
  
"Ah, the Corinne Miller who fainted and her car needed to be towed. Ben called about it earlier tonight. Gray Escort, 924-MMH." Andy responded.  
  
"Oh, shit. I gotta go." Bobby said into the phone hanging up and running out the door. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
Corinne had parked far away from the other wrestlers since she hadn't been sure what was reserved or not. As she walked she called one of the girls who worked with her and left a message on the voice mail asking for the information that she needed to make the annual report, thinking that if they emailed it to her as soon as they had come into the office, she could analyze some of it the next day without having to go into the office. As she hung up the phone, she turned the key to her car and nothing happened.  
  
"What the..." She wondered confusedly.  
  
The car was indeed quite old, but nonetheless usually worked pretty well. It had never just been completely dead before. She tried again and still, not even a noise came out of the engine. She could feel her stomach dropping and now wished that she hadn't waited so late to come out here. She tried again and yelped as a knock on the window frightened her. But then she realized it was Ben, Bobby's little brother.  
  
"Need help?" he asked charmingly.  
  
"Umm, yeah, actually I have no clue what is wrong with my car." She said, getting out of the car after popping the trunk, knowing that it had something to do with the engine. She watched as he quickly opened it and looked in. She stood back and watched him carefully, and was shocked when he seemed to know exactly what was wrong with it.  
  
"Looks like you have no oil and your spark plugs are shot."  
  
"Are you sure?" Corinne said, reaching inside her purse for her mace.  
  
"Yep, go ahead take a look." He said getting out of the way. Corinne was scared but tried to calm down. She repeated in her head over and over again that it was Bobby's brother and he wouldn't try to hurt her. Against her better judgement, she leaned down and took a look at the engine. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
Meanwhile at the bottom floor of the parking lot, Jeff and Matt stuck their bags in the trunk of the rent-a-car." "Guess she really is gone. Oh, well I'll talk to her tomor..."  
  
"AAH!" A surprised scream interrupted Matt and both brothers looked up at the second floor in shock then both jumped into the car and burned rubber up the ramp. Matt could feel the anger burning his blood. He could feel that something was very very wrong in his stomach and looked at Jeff who was already holding on the door handle, ready to jump out. Matt focused his eyes and was shocked to see Corinne being pushed up on one of the cement poles of the parking lot.  
  
"Shit Jeff, it's Corinne, grab the wheel!" Matt yelled, placing the car in neutral to slow it down and opened the car door even as the car was going.  
  
It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion in his head. He could see Corinne struggling with the man as he held her hands up on the pole and kissed her roughly, his hands pulling at her clothes. He could see her bringing up her knee to kick him in the balls but the guy stood feet apart as if he expected her to do that. He could hear her struggle against the man and his mind went blank in rage and all he could remember was Jeff pulling him off of the guy as Bobby, who had run out in the commotion held Corinne in his arms. As soon as Matt was off of Ben, Bobby let go of Corinne and punched Ben.  
  
"You asshole! I can't believe you did that!" He yelled at his brother.  
  
Ben held up his hand to his nose, which was now bleeding, and his right eye was already in the process of turning purple. Matt continued to struggle against Jeff, his anger still not in control. He just wanted to pound the guy until he couldn't see the fear in Corinne's face anymore. She walked over to him and touched him softly on the shoulder.  
  
"Matt." She said softly, still in shock of the attack.  
  
Jeff let go of his brother sensing a lot of the anger in Matt go away at the simple touch of the girl and looked down at her, knowing that he had never seen this happen to his brother before. Her hands were shaking and Matt could see the fear in her eyes but somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, knew that killing the guy in front of her wouldn't help the situation.  
  
"Corinne, I'm so sorry. I'll call the..." Bobby began, but unable to finish his sentence. While he knew that what Ben had done was wrong, he still didn't want to be the one to call the police.  
  
"No Bobby. I'm not pressing charges." She said faintly.  
  
"What?!" Matt and Jeff said simultaneously.  
  
"Corinne, please, I know he's my brother, but you should report this. It's wrong. I understand." Bobby said.  
  
"No, just let me talk to him for a minute alone."  
  
"But!" Matt protested but was stopped by the anger in her eyes.  
  
Gone was the fear and now was a fiery anger he had not witnessed yet. Jeff pulled his brother about two feet away form them, and Bobby followed suit. Corinne grabbed Ben by the lapels of his shirt and pushed him up to the pole. She kicked his balls and then took out her mace, and as soon as he looked up from holding his crotch, she sprayed his eyes with the mace and kicked him once again. He fell to the floor clutching his crotch and his eyes, screaming in pain. Corinne stood back in a stagnant pose, as Bobby picked up his brother and walked away with him.  
  
She clenched and unclenched her fists, and refused to the urge she had to cry, refusing to let him see the tears. Matt and Jeff, unsure of what to do or say, stood back and watched as the brothers disappeared from view and then Corinne sat down on the floor of the parking lot and started crying, her shoulders trembling at the strength of her sobs. Matt quickly sat down next to her and pulled her to him.  
  
"It's okay, Corinne, it's okay. Breathe honey, breathe." He murmured against her ear.  
  
Jeff went back to the car and pulled out a t-shirt, which he quickly handed to Matt.  
  
"I'm sorry. I know I'm being stupid, I mean he didn't really do anything, I was just so scared." Corinne said against his chest as he helped her stand up.  
  
"No, you have every right to be upset. Come on, let's put this shirt on you," Matt responded, trying hard to keep his voice mellow for as he looked down at her and saw the naked fear and anguish in her eyes, and the shirt almost ripped off of her, he could feel his anger swelling again.  
  
"Do you want to call someone? Your parents, a friend?" Jeff said, taking out his cell phone from his pocket.  
  
"No, I don't want to upset them. I'll be fine, I just need to get away from here. I'll call a cab." She said, her voice shaking.  
  
"Well, I'm not letting you go anywhere alone. You're coming with us."  
  
"I don't even know you. Why would you want to help me?" She said, then shook her head. "I'm sorry, oh god, you just saved me from...I'm sorry. I just..."  
  
"It's okay. Come on, let's go." Matt said.  
  
"Let me just get my..." Corinne began.  
  
Jeff, who had been quiet during the whole ordeal stood up and said, "No, just get in the car. I'll get everything for you. I don't want you going near that place." She smiled gratefully to him, knowing that she probably would not have been able to handle going near the car either.  
  
"Umm, I need to go home and get some clothes and take shower and..."  
  
"Don't worry about it, just tell me what exit it's on."  
  
"Exit 9 on I95," she mumbled taking her bags from Jeff and climbing into the back of the car as Matt climbed into the driver's seat and Jeff into the passenger seat, and drove in silence.   
  
"Make a right at the end of the ramp." Corinne said softly, the first words spoken since they had pulled out of the garage.  
  
As they pulled out Matt looked and saw the WWF building just about a block away from the exit. "Do you live really close to here?" he asked.  
  
"Uh yeah, just turn right over here and go straight."  
  
Matt followed her directions, pulling into a road called Courtland Avenue and looked around. He passed by a small church, and some houses, a huge difference from the urban like setting the Titan Tower was in. As they drove over a short bridge, he stopped at a red light.  
  
"Make another right here please and just go down the next street on the left."  
  
"Oakdale Rd.?" Jeff asked as they drove closer.  
  
"Yeah, that's it. The 5th house on the left is mine," She said pointing out a small yellow house. Matt pulled into the short driveway and waited as she got out of the car.  
  
"Umm, you guys can come in," Corinne said, leaning into the door with an attempted smile on her face.  
  
Matt and Jeff climbed out of the car as Corinne took out her keys, but her hands were shaking still from the ordeal and couldn't quite get the key inside the keyhole. She turned around to ask one of them to open the door, but Matt simply took her hand in his and helped her inset the key. She smiled gratefully to him and turned on a light in the small hallway. Matt and Jeff stepped in, surprised at the décor of the house since from the outside it had looked so small and feminine, and inside it was decorated rather in a homey but eclectic manner with scattered rugs on the hardwood floor and funky portraits on the wall.  
  
"I'm just going to go take a quick shower, umm you want me to make some coffee before I go?" She asked.  
  
"No, just tell me where the kitchen is and I'll make some coffee," Matt said.  
  
"Umm, thanks, it's right over there, and the living room is right here, so if you need to make a phone call, the phones right there," Corinne answered walking to back, "Oh and guys, thank you so much again, I just... I'm sorry I kind of freaked out on you back at the arena, I just..."  
  
"Don't worry about it Corinne. We understand," Matt answered as Jeff nodded in accord. She smiled again and walked away. "Let me go make that coffee." Matt said, leading the way to the room she had pointed out. 


	10. Inevitable 10

Chapter 10  
  
Corinne turned the hot water on and stepped into the shower, just wanting to wash away the disgusting feeling she felt on her skin. Even thought Ben had not been able to get past a kiss, she could still feel his hands on her skin and she shuddered even as the steam from the hot water filled the room. She stayed in the shower for 20 minutes, not wanting to take too long since she knew that Matt and Jeff were waiting and it would take them around three hours to get to Boston. She pulled on loose cotton black pants, a white tank top and a black WWF sweatshirt. She felt better now, and if it wasn't for a few bruises on her arms and a scratch on her neck it didn't even seem as if anything had happened to her at all. She jogged down the stairs and smelled the aromatic coffee scent invading the house.  
  
"Hey," She said quietly. Matt and Jeff both turned around, a bit surprised since they hadn't heard anything.  
  
Matt walked closer to her. "How're you feeling?" He asked tentatively.  
  
"Much better...Thank you guys so much for taking me home. Umm, I know you have a long drive ahead so let me just put the coffee in a thermos and you guys can go..."  
  
"Wait, you don't actually think we're going to leave you alone tonight do you?" Jeff said, the first words he had spoken to Corinne.  
  
"Yeah, I mean I know you say you're fine, but I just...I'll feel more comfortable if you come with me and Jeff tonight. You can stay in Amy's room." Matt said.  
  
"Oh no. I can't do that and seriously, you guys I really feel much better and..."  
  
"If you don't go with us, how're you going to get to RAW tomorrow?" Matt asked.  
  
"I don't think I'm going to go."  
  
"What are you going to do? If you stay here alone you'll just torture yourself thinking about what happened. At least if you go with us, you can talk to either one of us if it's bugging you...even Taylor's going to be at the hotel." Jeff said.  
  
"Well...I don't know, I'd be imposing." She said hesitantly but was close to cracking since she was afraid of having to deal with the attack alone.  
  
"Oh no you wouldn't be. Amy's staying in L.A. until tomorrow morning, she won't need the hotel room until tomorrow night, and by then we can get you your own room." Matt answered.  
  
"So...what do you say? It's paid for and it's connected to our room and you do feel safe with us don't you? Because if you don't, well we can just stay here tonight...basically it doesn't matter where you stay...we're going to stay near you." Matt said with conviction. Jeff nodded in agreement.  
  
"Why are you guys so nice?" She said quietly. "I mean honestly, you just met me today...I'm a friend of a friend who just met me today and I just don't under..."  
  
"Look. It doesn't matter to me when we met you or how we met you, you're a good person...I could tell that with the way you were around Julia and Taylor and the fact that I know you didn't press charges against Ben because of Bobby. And..."  
  
"Okay...I'll go pack a bag." She murmured, turned around and walked back up the stairs.  
  
As soon as she left, Jeff said, "Hey, Matt. I didn't want to leave her here either but is there something else going on here that you're not telling me?" 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I'm not really sure...I've just never seen you this protective over a girl since Amy..." Jeff let the sentence hang in the air, unsure whether to finish his thought.  
  
"Jeff...give it a rest okay. Look, all I know is that she almost got raped tonight. She's not pressing charges so as far as I can see she is getting absolutely no closure from all of this. And if what happened tonight had happened to you or I, you know that you'd be pretty shook up. I'm just concerned about her well-being, just like I would be for anyone else who had to go through what she just did." Matt responded vehemently.  
  
"You're right Matt. Sorry for making assumptions again. I was just..."  
  
"It's alright, just...I mean I guess I do kinda like her...but I don't really know her that well and..."  
  
"I gotcha bro...keep my big mouth shut until you decide to make a move." Jeff said shaking his head in shame.  
  
"Yep...precisely."  
  
"Do you think she's gonna be okay?" Jeff asked quietly.  
  
"I don't know, how does a person get over something like that. I know, I know, like she said all he did was kiss her, but frankly that asshole violated her. I just want her to feel safe..."  
  
"She seems like a strong level-headed girl, I'm sure she'll get over this."  
  
Corinne came back downstairs a few minutes later with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder, which Matt took from her and carried it to the car. The traffic was almost non-existent on the highway and they reached Boston around 3 in the morning. As they pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, Matt turned around and realized that Corinne had fallen asleep, she looked so peaceful and he knew that there was no way in hell he would wake her up. Jeff saw the small smile on his brother's face. He hadn't seen that warmth in his brother's eyes since Amy and he had officially and for the last time broken up.  
  
"Alright, I'll go run up ahead and open the door, you just take her up the elevator." Jeff said, jumping out of the car and grabbed all of their bags before running full speed up the hotel stairs.  
  
Matt slowly got out of the car and carefully lifted her from the seat. She tensed up and sleepily opened her eyes. As soon as she saw it was Matt, she seemed to melt into him, trustingly wrapping her arms around his neck and placed her head on his chest. Meanwhile, Jeff dropped the bags in front of his and Matt's room and fumbled around his pocket looking for the envelope holding the cards for the room.  
  
"Damn it! Where is it!" He began emptying his pockets.  
  
Keep in mind that Jeff was wearing huge cargo pants with almost 10 huge pockets on it. After two minutes, the carpet in front of the hotel room was littered with empty skittle wrappers, empty gum wrappers, two full bags of skittles, phone numbers, his wallet, a bandana, a pair of stockings he had stolen from Taylor's purse, Julia's cheerios, three cd's, his disk man, mp3 player, sunglasses...when he realized that he had put the keys in his book bag for safe keeping.  
  
"Argh," he yelled when after he made his epiphany he tripped on the other two bags he had been holding and fell to the floor. Brushing himself off, he finally found his book bag, took out the card triumphantly and was about to insert it into the slot when... 


	12. chapter 12

Chapter 12  
  
"Jesus Christ Jeff, was that you making all that noise?" Amy said, squinting her eyes at the bright hotel hall lights.  
  
"Amy! What the heck are you doing here?"  
  
"Umm...this is my hotel room."  
  
"Yeah, but you weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow."  
  
"Oh...yeah Seth and I had a little fight so I decided to come up early. Where's Matt?" She said, looking down the hallway.  
  
"He's umm...he's stretching his legs after that drive." Jeff said, unsure of what to say.  
  
"Well I'm gonna go to bed now...Bye!"  
  
"Wait a minute, Jeff why are you acting so weird. " Amy asked.  
  
"Um, I should sleep. I just need sleep. You probably do too Aims. Night." Jeff said, and quickly went into his and Matt's room.  
  
"He gets weirder and weirder every day." Amy mumbled to herself, then went back into her room.  
  
As soon as he heard the door close, Jeff ran out of the bedroom and arrived at the elevator just in time to see it open and Matt who was carrying Corinne walk out.  
  
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be holding the door open."  
  
"Umm, Amy's here."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yeah, she decided to come early. Where are we gonna put her?"  
  
"Well, I guess she can sleep on one of the beds. You and I will just have to share tonight." Matt whispered, and began walking towards the room.  
  
"Oh man...I hate the way you sleep. You always take the blankets!" Then shut up quickly when Corinne stirred in Matt's arms.  
  
"Shh...you're gonna wake her up." Matt whispered as he waited for Jeff to open the door and pulled back the comforter on one of the queen beds. Matt placed her carefully on the bed and pulled the covers on top of her.  
  
"She asleep still?" Jeff asked.  
  
"Yeah, hopefully she'll be okay for the rest of the night."  
  
"Good," Jeff said, beginning to take off his clothes.  
  
"Hey, hey, go to the bathroom man, we got a girl in the room."  
  
"But she's sleeping. She won't see any..."  
  
"I don't care, go to the bathroom and change."  
  
"Alright, alright, I'm going. I doubt I have anything she's never...well then again...I am very" Jeff mumbled as he ambled towards the bathroom.  
  
In the meantime, Matt turned away and began to unpack his clothes. Jeff came out of the bathroom wearing a shirt and boxers. "Is this decent enough for her?" He asked, not waiting for an answer as he walked to the other bed and pulled the covers on. Matt didn't answer him and walked to the bathroom himself to change, and soon the room was filled with Jeff's deep breathing.  
  
"Damn, out like a light." Matt muttered to himself when he walked out of the bathroom to find Jeff dead asleep on the bed.  
  
As he went over to his side of the bed, he noted how peaceful Corinne looked. As he closed his eyes, trying to ignore Jeff's snore, which is damn close to impossible, Matt thought of the days events. He felt the anger come over him again as he thought of Corinne and what that kid had done to her. As if on cue, she sighed softly in her sleep, reminding him that she was in the room. He opened his eyes and stared at her, the graceful curve of her neck illuminated by the moon. He fell asleep thinking about how she looked in the moonlight and how glad he was that she was near. 


	13. chapter 13

Chapter 13  
  
Matt woke up to the noise of Jeff looking for clothes to wear, an experience, which often could be described as a small hurricane since he tended to change his mind and throw his clothing around or like in this case, just couldn't find anything to wear.  
  
"Ugh," Matt grunted as a pair of jeans was thrown at his head.  
  
"Oh, sorry man...Where'd I put that shirt!" Jeff grumbled.  
  
"Jeff," Matt squinted at the morning sun, "Shut up! You're gonna wake up Cor..."  
  
"Corinne?" Jeff interrupted.  
  
"She got up a few hours ago when Julia and Taylor knocked on the door. Apparently neither you or I woke up."  
  
Matt stood up from the bed and turned to look at the other bed, which was empty, it's sheets neatly pulled up with pillows fluffed up carefully.  
  
"If we were both asleep, then how would you know what happened?" Matt asked incredulously.  
  
"Umm, duh with the note," Jeff said crawling on the floor.  
  
"What note? And what the heck are you looking for?" Matt asked incredulously as Jeff crawled over to the bed and attempted to push Matt.  
  
"My shirt, you're probably lying down on it." Jeff said, grunting as he tried to push Matt off of the bed. "Come on! Get up!"  
  
"Tell me what shirt you're looking for and I'll tell you where it is."  
  
"You're sitting on it! Come on get up!"  
  
"Where's the note?"  
  
"It's over there on the table..."Jeff said, pulling off all the blankets off of Matt's side as soon as he stood up. "Damn it!"  
  
"Idiot," Matt mumbled as he reached for the note.  
  
Hey Guys, Taylor and Julia came around this morning to apologize again for Jeff's hair and to ask you guys from breakfast. I didn't want to wake you up, you guys looked so tired. I'm going with them to Quincy Market, and then I think dinner tonight. Taylor told me that Amy came in earlier than expected, sorry if I was an inconvenience. Thanks for letting me stay here last night and for everything else. See you at the arena. Corinne  
  
"Did she leave any of her things here?"  
  
"Yeah, where else is she supposed to leave her things?" Jeff asked, sticking his head under the bed.  
  
"Oh, just making sure she was going to come back here tonight."  
  
"She definitely will, she left all her products here. Oh dude, we have to buy some of that Pantene Hydrating curls conditioner stuff...smells good. And here, feel my hair!"  
  
"Jeff, you used her conditioner?" Matt asked incredulously.  
  
"Well, I just woke up. I thought it was the hotel kind. But seriously, feel how soft my hair is."  
  
"You know, you've got so many issues." Matt said, shaking his head as he walked to the closet.  
  
"Whatever, I suggest you try it, it works really well. She's got some gel in there too, which I pray to god you use, cause your frizzies...bro it's not working out...hey...that's the shirt!" Jeff yelled out, jumping over the bed and running up to the closet.  
  
"That is so not your shirt, that's mine!" Matt said, pulling out a long, sleeved, button down white shirt.  
  
"Really? Well when was the last time you wore it?"  
  
"The last time you 'borrowed' it and never gave it back, since I found it in my laundry I figured maybe you finally had the decency to give it back!"  
  
"Nope, I just wanted you to wash it...idiot!" Jeff said, reaching for the shirt.  
  
"Eww, why is it all stiff?"  
  
"I had it starched and ironed you moron. Fine wear it today, but I want it back. That's Armani."  
  
"Armani, Shmarnami, I hate it when clothes are stiff." Jeff pulled off the shirt, threw it on the ground and started jumping on top of it.  
  
"What the hell are you doing!"  
  
"I'm softening it up....aaaahhh...there ya go," Jeff said, pulling on the now wrinkled, destarched shirt.  
  
"You're an idiot." A knock interrupted the eminent argument between the brothers. 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14  
  
"Who is it?" asked Matt and Jeff simultaneously.  
  
"Who do you think it'd be?" said the voice behind the door.  
  
Matt and Jeff looked at each other, then in silent agreement Jeff walked to the door. "Hey Ames," He said opening the door and walking back inside.  
  
"Wow, you really sound happy to see me...what a welcome. No hug, no wave no...,"she said following him inside the door.  
  
"Oh, stop yapping Amy," Jeff said turning round and gave her a hug, while Matt stood by. It had been more than a little awkward between Matt and Amy since they split up.  
  
"Hey," Matt said, following suit with Jeff and gave her a hug.  
  
Amy stood back in surprise, while Jeff who had raised an eyebrow at first merely shrugged and walked back to the bathroom.  
  
"Umm, hey." Amy responded, surprised but happy since this was the first time since she had gotten together with Seth that he had actually touched her.  
  
Jeff came back outside with his hair in a bandana. "Ya'll wanna go get some food or something?" Jeff asked, "Cause I want to get some food and if ya'll don't wanna get some food...well....did I say I wanted to get some food? Cause I really wanna get some...."  
  
"Alright, Jeff we get it," Matt and Amy said simultaneously, and then laughed since they used to always say that to Jeff together. Jeff smiled in return, happy that things were starting to feel normal again.  
  
"Hang on, let me just use the bathroom." Amy said walking towards the bathroom while Matt and Jeff got their things ready.  
  
She walked in the bathroom to check her makeup and glanced at the sink area of the bathroom. She saw a makeup bag and face wash. She walked to the bathtub and pulled open the shower curtain and noted the bottles of shampoo and conditioner that she knew neither Jeff nor Matt used.  
  
"What the hell..." she thought to herself, then walked out of the bathroom to find both Matt and Jeff sitting on one bed watching TV and noted that the other was perfectly fixed and neat.  
  
"Hey, let's go, damn it took you long enough and I didn't even hear you flush...ewwwww..." Jeff said.  
  
"Shut up, I didn't use the toilet, I was just using the mirror."  
  
"Oh...it's not like it would help," Jeff said then at the threatening look Amy gave him responded with a hurried, "let's go," as he lead the way out of the hotel.  
  
Meanwhile, Corinne, Taylor and Julia were walking through the crowd at Quincy Market with Julia leading the way to as many toy stores as she could drag her mother to. "So what happened last night, and...sweetie this is adult conversation." Taylor said as she felt Julia pulling at the bottom of her sweater.  
  
"I know but I want this mommy! It talks what I talk."  
  
"What?" Taylor asked.  
  
"I think she means says what she says, I've seen one of those parrots before."  
  
"Oh, well just wait a minute and I'll get it for you sweetie, do you have anything like that yet?"  
  
"Nope," Julia said then happily skipped towards a pile of stuffed animals near the back of the store.  
  
Taylor kept an eye to her daughter, making sure she was going to be occupied and wouldn't walk out alone.  
  
"So yeah, I saw that bruise on you arm back at the hotel before you put on the sweater. What happened? Did Matt or Jeff..." Taylor began.  
  
"Oh god no. Umm, there was a little incident in the parking lot of the arena last night. This guy grabbed me and kissed me, Matt and Jeff rescued me from him."  
  
"Oh my god, are you okay?" Taylor asked concernedly.  
  
"I really am fine now, and I mean I cannot thank Matt and Jeff enough. They wouldn't even let me sleep at home alone last night and even though Amy was here they still made sure I would be close to them. It was really sweet. Actually I think they carried me to the room last night, I don't remember anything past falling asleep in the car."  
  
"Yeah, they would do that. When I was pregnant with Julia," Taylor said turning around to search for her daughter, found her, then continued, "Matt and Jeff followed me EVERYWHERE and I mean everywhere. If Chris wasn't with me they were there. They made sure that if Chris was going to be away, one of them would be with me and it just so happened that when I went into labor in a car on the way to the arena to meet Chris, I was with both of them. Matt delivered Julia, and I think Jeff fainted somewhere in between. So when Julia was being christened, they were the godparents. And you know, Julia Marie, J and M for Jeff and Matt."  
  
"Really? That's so sweet."  
  
"Yeah, those two guys are amazing and..." Taylor was interrupted when an excited Julia wrapped her little arms on her legs, "I owe my little Julie bean to them," she finished as she picked up her daughter. 


	15. cHAPTER 15

Chapter 15  
  
Matt, Jeff and Amy had spent the entire day together, starting with lunch then the gym. As they sat in the car on the way to the arena, Amy looked at Matt who was sitting on her left as he drove and could here Jeff sitting in the back belting out a horrible version of "A Long December" by the Counting Crows and she realized how much she had missed them. In the past few weeks she had been going to LA to be with Seth, and had not taken in the fact that she was barely spending anytime with Matt or Jeff. She was about to invite them both to go out with her that night when her cell phone rang. Matt stopped at the red light and looked at her pointedly as the phone continued to ring. Jeff immediately stopped singing, further heightening the burgeoning tension in front of the car. She reached for her phone, looked at the number and pressed the power button. The silence was so deafening in the car that Jeff reached over in between Matt and Amy and turned on the radio. When they reached the arena, Matt silently got out of the car and walked away.  
  
"Do you think he knows that it was Seth?" Amy asked Jeff.  
  
"Umm,it was kind of obvious don't you think, I mean you wouldn't pick it up."  
  
"Yeah but do you think he's mad at me again?"  
  
"Ames, there is no way Matt could ever be mad at you. He's loved you for too long and too much, and like I mean just as a person in his life, not like in the romantic sort of way, although he has obviously done that too. He's just still hurt from this whole deal with Seth, he'll get over it soon." Jeff said confidently, inside thinking about the expression on Matt's face when he was with Corinne.  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"I just know, now let's go inside. Don't worry about it, watch I'm sure Matt will be perfectly fine when we get inside."  
  
Meanwhile, Matt walked into the arena, angry with himself for feeling angry about Seth and Amy. He should have been over this by now, or at least his mind was telling him that but his heart couldn't accept it. He should have been used to Amy being the one to find someone new, he never seemed to be able to find anyone that could hold a candle to her during any of their break ups, or a person that he could connect with in any level that was in anyway close to what he and Amy had.  
  
"You alright Matt?" Adam asked as he walked into the locker room.  
  
Adam, Jay and Chris were sitting down each going over their dialogue for the night. Matt didn't say anything, just shrugged his shoulder and sat down on a bench. The three blondes all looked at each other, knowing that Matt was mad about something. He wasn't the type to show his anger but you could always tell when he was pissed since he just didn't talk.  
  
"Hey guys," Jeff said, running into the locker room out of breath, he sat down next to his brother.  
  
"Matt, you all right?" Jeff asked quietly.  
  
"I'm fine Jeff," Matt said, then pulled out his disc-man and headphones and closed his eyes, trying to get over his anger. He didn't hear the knock on the door. 


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16  
  
"If it's Amy, please don't let her in here," Jeff said quietly, looking at his brother. Adam who had been closest to the door, nodded in agreement as he stood up and opened it.  
  
"Hi, is Matt or Jeff Hardy in here?" asked Corinne.  
  
"Yeah," Jeff said after hearing her voice, looking back at Matt who still had his eyes closed. Just as he was about to reach her, Adam put his hand forward and pushed Jeff back.  
  
"Well, maybe they are and maybe they're not, but there's something you can be sure of," Adam said, with that signature grin,  
  
"I'm here."  
  
"Right, umm, can I talk to them?"  
  
"Adam, let me..." Jeff started.  
  
"What's your name baby girl?"  
  
"Oh my god, Adam, stop it!" Taylor said, after hearing him talk, "Corinne, he's married and is a dirty old man."  
  
"Eww, Taylor whatever, nice to meet you Corinne. Come on in." Adam said, finally allowing her through the door.  
  
"Hey Tay, where's Jules?" Chris said, when he saw his wife.  
  
"I left her with Debra."  
  
"Is he sleeping?" Corinne asked pointing at Matt who still had his eyes closed in concentration.  
  
"Nah, he's umm meditating. Here why don't we leave you two alone." Jeff said, waving everyone out with his hands.  
  
"Oh, meditating...well that's okay, I just needed to talk to either one of you, umm I was wondering if I could borrow one of the cards to the hotel room so I could get in after the show and move my stuff."  
  
"Oh, well Matt has them so why don't we just leave you two alone to talk..." Jeff said, directing everyone outside, even a confused Taylor who tried to speak out but was pulled out of the room by her husband.  
  
"But I..." Corinne started as everyone left the room.  
  
"Jeff what the hell is going on?" Taylor asked as she was pulled into the room where the coffee was placed.  
  
"Yeah, what is going on here?" Adam, Jay and Chris asked.  
  
"Well, I think that Matt has a little crush on Corinne."  
  
"So? He doesn't even know that she's even in the room?" Chris asked.  
  
"Yeah, but see that's the thing, he's mad because of Amy and Seth. He's still not over that whole thing. And you guys didn't see him last night, from what I could evaluations of last night..."  
  
"Oh, cause you're so damn good and trained at analyzing people..." Taylor said.  
  
"Hey, hey, hey...let me finish...I think that when he was with Corinne, he forgot about Amy. Now how about that?"  
  
"Well, he did seem really interested last night," Chris said.  
  
"Really?" Jay, Adam and Taylor said simultaneously.  
  
"Matt was interested in another girl?" Jay said incredulously.  
  
"I support this little venture Jeff, I think we're all sick of Matt moping around like a lost puppy every time Amy and him split up. He never seems to be able to bounce back from it." Adam said.  
  
"True," Jay said.  
  
"Umm, yeah, excuse me, but what no one is thinking about is what Corinne thinks in all this. She just wants to get her clothes out of the hotel room. I don't..."  
  
"Whoa, are you telling me that she has no interest in my brother at all?" Jeff said disbelievingly.  
  
"Well..." Taylor began.  
  
"Tell him Taylor," Chris said, remembering the conversation he and Taylor had the night before.  
  
"But, it might have just been hypothetical."  
  
"Just tell them."  
  
"Alright, when Julia and her were talking about the Hardy Boys, well you guys last night, she said that she liked the looks of Matt better."  
  
"Hmm...I don't know whether I should be insulted or not, but this sounds like it was written in the stars to me." Jeff said.  
  
"I just have one thing to say..." Jay began who had been silent throughout the conversation.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You wanted this girl to like him right?"  
  
"Yeah, so?" Jeff said.  
  
"Well you just abandoned her alone with Matt in one of the foulest moods I've ever seen him in. I can't wait to see how much she'll like him now."  
  
"Oh, crap..." Jeff said. 


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17  
  
Corinne didn't know what to do. Matt was still sitting on the bench with his headphones, his eyes closed, barely even moving. She walked over to him and gingerly tapped him on the shoulder.  
  
"Jeff, I told you to leave me alone." Matt said, opening his eyes warily, "Oh...Hey."  
  
"Hey, are you ok?"  
  
"Oh, I'm fine...uh...did you just get here?" Matt said looking around confusedly.  
  
"Yeah, I was looking for you and Jeff and Taylor told me that you would be in here, so I knocked on the door. Jeff said you were meditating or something..."  
  
"Umm...he's weird..."  
  
"Yeah, I can tell. Umm, but I just wanted to ask you if I could borrow one...oh excuse me," she said as her cell phone rang.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"You little bitch, you know you wanted it..."  
  
"Leave me the fuck alone, you asshole!" Corinne yelled into the phone vehemently and then hung up.  
  
"Who was that?"  
  
"I think it was Ben..."Corinne said shakily.  
  
"Come on, let's get out of here and leave the phone in my bag." He said, hoping to god that the guy was just bluffing.  
  
Matt stood up and took the phone away from her and stuck it into the pocket of his bag. "If he calls again and threatens you, I'm calling the cops, agreed?"  
  
"Agreed." She said numbly.  
  
"Now, let's both forget about him okay." He said, wrapping his arms around her as she placed her head on his shoulder.  
  
"Why is he dong this to me?" She asked pulling away and looking straight into Matt's eyes. She didn't know what it was about him, but she felt safe around him. As long as he was near, she knew that she was going to be fine.  
  
"I don't know sweetie, but I'm here for you alright, no matter what. I swear to you, I'll keep you safe." Matt said, he held her right hand in his and brought it up to his heart. They just stood there for a few minutes, holding her hand in a silent vow to keep her safe and staring down into her eyes.  
  
"Matt? Oh, excuse me," Amy said as she walked into the locker room, saw a couple in an embrace and walked back out again. Then the door slowly opened again.  
  
"Matt?" Matt, who had his back to the door so that Amy couldn't really see who he was holding in his arms, turned slightly and said, "Can you give us a minute please?"  
  
"Umm...sorry." Said Amy as she turned around and walked quickly to the ladies dressing room. She sat down slowly on one of the benches away from all the other ladies, including Debra, Jackie, Torrie Wilson, and Stacey Keibler who were all gathered around Julia who was showing off her new parrot. Amy closed her eyes but couldn't get the image of Matt and some mystery woman out of her mind.  
  
She sighed deeply and muttered to herself. "Seth, keep thinking about Seth." She looked down as she felt someone tugging on her jeans.  
  
"Hi Amy," Julia said, "want to see my parrot."  
  
"Umm, I will in a minute sweetie," Amy said, attempting to smile at the adorable four year old.  
  
"Amy, are you okay?" Stacey asked.  
  
"I'm fine, I've got to find Jeff." She said standing up from the bench.  
  
"Can I come with you? I want to show Jeff my parrot too." Julia asked, wrinkling her forehead as she tried to remember what her mother always made her say.  
  
"What do you say Julia?" Debra asked, remembering her conversation with Taylor about how Steve's daughters had impeccable manners.  
  
"Please?"  
  
Amy, who had been about to say no, couldn't at the look of adorable pride Julia had on her face when she remembered to say please.  
  
"All right, come on let's go."  
  
"Jeffy!" Julia squealed as she caught a glimpse of his purple hair.  
  
"Julie!" Jeff yelled as he caught her in his arms and swung her around. Julia hugged him and showed him the parrot.  
  
"Look what mommy got me...Matty!" She yelled as she caught a glimpse of Matt who was talking to Shane McMahon down the hallway.  
  
"Stay right there, Julia." He said seriously in a tone of voice, Julia knew not to test.  
  
"Jeff," Amy began after Jeff took Julia down the other side of the hallway, away from where Matt and Shane were.  
  
"Um, Matt is taking the rest of the week off, I need to talk to you about the injury deal we have tonight."  
  
"Wait...what? What's going on? What's wrong with Matt?" Amy asked concernedly.  
  
"He's staying with Corinne..."Jeff started.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"She's nice." Said Julie innocently, distractedly placing the parrot on top of Jeff's head.  
  
"I'll tell you about her later, but we need to talk about the match tonight."  
  
"Where's Taylor?" Asked Amy.  
  
"She's with Chris in the locker room. Hey Jules, wanna go to your mommy?"  
  
"Yup...I'm hungry Jeffy-roo," Julia said as she played with his hair.  
  
"Alright, lets go." Jeff said walking towards the locker room with Amy following close behind.  
  
As soon as they entered the locker room Julie jumped down from Jeff's arms and ran to Chris who was standing beside Stephanie McMahon, and Taylor.  
  
"I missed you daddy!"  
  
"Missed you too baby, listen we need to have an adult talk, can you go with Stephanie to the other room?"  
  
"Okay," Julie said sulkily, but nevertheless followed Stephanie.  
  
"Where's Corinne?" Jeff asked.  
  
"The matches are starting and she still needs to write that article," Taylor said.  
  
"Did he call back?"  
  
"Jeff, the asshole called 10 times in the last half an hour and left obscene messages. Matt wouldn't let her hear the messages though," Chris said angrily.  
  
"He's staying with her until the cops know where he is and the restraining order is definite."  
  
"Restraining order...would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here? Who the hell is Corinne? And why is Matt staying with her?"  
  
Jeff and Chris didn't know what to say, both knowing full well the relationship that Amy and Matt had, but at this point, Taylor who was worried about her new friend, didn't think about how Amy would feel about Matt and another girl.  
  
"We all met Corinne yesterday at the house show and she was attacked by some guy in the parking lot. Luckily Matt and Jeff were there and were able to stop it from going to a full-blown rape. Now the guy is threatening her."  
  
"Oh my God! That's horrible." Amy said, unsure of how to respond and she felt awful for having been so jealous before.  
  
"So Amy, umm Matt's injury is going to happen during the poetry in motion, I think I'm gonna land on top of him cause I'll get pushed back."  
  
"Oh, okay. Where is he?" Asked Amy.  
  
"He's probably still talking to Shane about the week off. You know Matt, he has to have everything set up and organized before he does anything."  
  
"Hey, guys let's go...our match is starting..." Matt said, sticking his head in the door quickly. 


	18. Chapter 18

The current story line involving Matt, Jeff and Amy had been ironically enough involving Hurricane Helms and Shannon Moore concerning the way that Helms had hit Amy during his match with Matt the week before. There hadn't originally been supposed to be any speaking involved, but for this occasion, Matt was given the okay to do an improv in the middle of the ring. As they walked down to the ring Mat pulled up a cameraman from the floor around the ring and directed him to place the camera right in front of his face and grabbed the mic from the shocked announcer.  
  
"I don't know who the hell you think you are, and frankly, I don't give a shit."  
  
The crowd grew silent, for no one had ever heard Matt talk in that way before. Even Jeff and Amy stood back in surprise.  
  
"I'm not going to stand by and let you hurt her so whenever you get the balls to pick on someone your own size, I am ready and waiting to face you. And if you ever do try to hurt her, just remember who's going to be standing by, ready and able to kick your ass."  
  
The crowd cheered as Matt jumped down from the ring and took off his shirt. He walked by Corinne who was sitting in the front and handed her the shirt, squeezing her hand in the process. To the rest of the crowd, he was just giving it to a fan, for Corinne, it was a reinforcement of the promise he had made earlier. She smiled at him, then quickly sat down as Shane and Shannon came out and the match began. Amy stood on their side of the ring and tried her damnedest not to turn around and look at Corinne since she still hadn't really seen her up close. As the spot for Matt's injury was being set up, Amy turned around, feigning shock and worry for Matt but was in truth watching Corinne's reaction. She stood up from her seat, obviously not expecting the fall, then sat down again as the other audience members looked at her strangely. As soon as the match was over, Corinne got up and ran backstage, unsure if the injury was real or not, however when she did get backstage a concerned Shane and Stephanie who immediately offered their help for her circumstances stopped her on the way.  
  
"Why didn't you report it last night, I can't believe he's threatening..."  
  
"Yes, I know.... excuse me..."  
  
"You know that we would have done anything to help, anything at...  
  
"I know...thank you...um..."  
  
"I mean we're not so heartless as to..."  
  
At this point Matt came out with an ice pack on his back followed by Jeff and Amy.  
  
"I think she's coming back here to check...hey you," Matt said.  
  
Stephanie and Shane let her walk through and watched as a concerned Corinne quickly walked to Matt and pulled his right hand into two of hers.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine, it was just a bump."  
  
"You could have warned me you know..." She lectured.  
  
"Sorry," Matt said, nudging her chin up with his hand,  
  
" Look at me."  
  
"Yeah?" Corinne said when she looked up into his eyes.  
  
"I'm all right," Matt said feeling inside that she needed the reassurance.  
  
"Hey, how long have you guys known each other again?" Stephanie asked, with a matchmaking gleam in her eyes.  
  
"Honestly, two days, but feels like so much longer." Matt said.  
  
Amy coughed.  
  
"Oh, have you met Amy yet?" Matt asked.  
  
"Hi, nice to meet you." Corinne said extending her right hand towards Amy.  
  
"Nice to meet you too," Amy said, noting how Matt was still holding Corinne's left hand in his.  
  
"Matt, you know you can let go of her. She's not going anywhere," Jeff said, laughingly.  
  
"Shut up Jeff." Matt said as Corinne laughed and shook her head, she did however, let go of his hand.  
  
"Well, I should really go back out there. I have to write this article tonight. I'll see you guys back here later?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll wait for you here." Matt said and watched her as she walked away.  
  
"What?" He asked when he turned around and noticed, Jeff, Shane and Stephanie watching him and in time to see Amy's back as she left the room. 


	19. ch 19

Chapter 19  
  
  
  
When RAW ended that night, most of the WWF entourage had already left the building, most of the wrestlers leaving right after their matches. Now, it was just Taylor, Chris, Matt, Jeff, Amy along with Corinne who were standing in the parking lot. Julia was asleep in the baby seat in the car while everyone else was talking outside.  
  
"So, are you guys driving down to Stamford tonight?" Jeff asked.  
  
"Yeah, there's no point in staying here." Matt said.  
  
"Okay... Ames, can l just get a ride from you?" Jeff asked.  
  
"Yeah, you can ride with me, I'm leaving now though," Amy said hurriedly, as she quickly got in her car.  
  
"Um, guess that's my cue to go with her. See you at the hotel," Jeff said, sliding into the car as well before Amy zoomed off.  
  
"Is umm Amy okay?" Matt asked confusedly.  
  
Taylor and Chris just looked at each other and shrugged. "Well we should be going now," Taylor said.  
  
"Yeah, I don't want Julie to wake up in the middle of the night." Chris said.  
  
"Listen Corinne, here's my home phone number...oh wait..Matt has all the other numbers so he can give it to you. If anything happens at all...you give me a call. Julie and I are going back home to Ontario tomorrow, but still please keep me updated alright." Taylor said as she handed Corinne a piece of paper.  
  
"I will, thank you guys," Corinne said, as she hugged both Chris and Taylor and waved as they got into their car.  
  
Matt and Corinne quickly got into their rental car and had been sitting for about ten minutes in silence when Corinne turned and looked at Matt.  
  
"Hey Matt, can I have my phone back, I just want to see if he called back at all."  
  
"He did call." Matt said simply.  
  
"Oh, he did...can I hear it?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Cause I'm not letting you listen to that asshole," Matt said softly but with an underlying thread of steel in his voice, telling her that he was getting angry with the issue. Corinne was about push the issue further but Matt was pulling into the hotel and as he parked the car he turned to look at her.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry I'm kind of being a jerk right now, but...you know what I'll tell you...That bastard is leaving you threatening messages, and I'm not going into details about what he said because I don't want you to be any more scared that you already are. Or upset for that matter, and I know you already are, just by hearing his voice that first time he called. I've called the cops and forwarded them the messages so we can get you a restraining order on this guy. I'm not going to let him hurt you anymore than he already has."  
  
Corinne sat back in amazement as the full extent of Matt's tenacity in protecting her came over her. No one in her whole life had ever...especially after only a few days of knowing each other taken this much time or concern in just keeping her safe.  
  
"So I'm sorry if I'm acting like an asshole, but I really don't want you to..." Corinne covered his mouth with her hand.  
  
"Don't say that..."  
  
"Don't say what?" "That you're sorry for anything." She said.  
  
Matt was amazed when he saw her eyes beginning to fill with tears.  
  
"Corinne, what's wrong?"  
  
"It's just that...no one's ever treated me the way that you treat me. No guy at least. You make me feel safe and cared for and...and I don't even know how to thank you for everything that you've done for me..." she cried. Matt pulled her close and hugged her. They both jumped as a noise shocked them both. 


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20  
  
"Ames, are you alright?" Jeff asked as they pulled out of the arena parking lot.  
  
"I'm perfectly perfect."  
  
"Umm...is this about Corinne?"  
  
"I said I'm fine."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Why is this happening Jeff? He wasn't supposed to find anyone new!"  
  
"What are you talking about? You found someone new."  
  
"No, well yes, but I just don't understand. I thought he was jealous and now he's not and ugh...I HATE THIS FEELING!" She yelled as she came to a red light.  
  
"Ames, it's alright. Look I know it must be hard for you to deal with this but you do have Seth," Jeff said, trying to be neutral about the situation. He loved Amy, she had been one of his best friends since Matt and her had first began seeing each other, but at the same time, Matt deserved to be happy as well.  
  
"I know...I know, I mean, I didn't tell you this before but I dumped Seth."  
  
"What? Why? I thought everything was going great...when?"  
  
"Tonight, after Matt left the car upset...right after Seth had called. And I felt like horrible because I haven't been around you guys and I...I don't know and I just thought that maybe I was wrong in breaking up with him before and I..."  
  
"Amy, could you pull over please."  
  
"What?" Amy said after pulling into an empty parking lot.  
  
"Look, I love you like a sister and you know I've always supported you and Matt whenever you guys decided to get back together and even when you guys broke up, then got back together again, I mean what is it this time? Number 10? And I know you really do care about him, but maybe it's time to let go and just not get back with him..."  
  
"What are you trying to say?"  
  
"All right, I'm going to talk to you off the record right now, not as Jeff Hardy your friend, but like Jeff Hardy, Matt's brother, before I met you alright? It's just that my brother and he'll kill me if he found out I told you this but you are the only person he has truly been with since he met you. All those times that you guys broke up, Matt had a date here and there and hey he's not a monk, but never a real relationship with a person. And I'm going to be honest with you, I really feel like he has some feelings for Corinne. And I'm asking you to just let him go this once because if it doesn't work out, you know that he'll go back to you."  
  
Amy was silent and looked outside the window.  
  
"Are you listening to me?" Jeff asked, when he realized she wasn't turned towards him.  
  
"Jeff, you don't understand. Matt has been the only, stable thing for me. He's not supposed to fall for anyone else, we're..."  
  
"Wait, but you are allowed to?" Jeff said angrily.  
  
"Don't say that to me Jeff!" Amy responded.  
  
"Amy, don't do this. You're the one who broke up with him and got together with his physical therapist. I mean, I know I never told you this, but I was really pissed off at you when you started putting the moves in Seth. Do you think that Matt is blind? Matt knew and the poor guy just accepted the fact that you were probably going to dump him just after a few days of meeting Seth."  
  
"What...what are you talking about?"  
  
"Aims, come on....you know you've gotten comfortable with the fact that Matt is always waiting for you to come back..." Jeff let the sentence run since he knew that he had never actually told Amy his opinions on her relationship with Matt.  
  
"That is such a cruel thing to say..."  
  
"Amy..."  
  
"Fine...so yes, I was "comfortable" with Matt always being there for me but that doesn't mean that I didn't love him as much he loved me. I was just making sure that we were right for each other, that it was really meant to be."  
  
"You've just said what I've been trying to say for the past ten minutes, if you really want to make sure that you and Matt are supposed to really be together, then don't you think that you should allow him to have this chance with Corinne?"  
  
Amy didn't respond to Jeff's statement, but instead revved up the car and drove quickly to the hotel just in time to see Matt and Corinne pull into the a parking spot. 


	21. ch 21

Chapter 21  
  
Jeff watched as Amy watched Matt and Corinne speaking to each other. Deep down, he felt torn about the situation. He loved Amy and had often thought that Matt and her would eventually make her his sister legally, but at the same token, he really felt that Corinne was a very nice girl and that Matt and her were definitely a possibility. He was shocked when it looked like Matt was going in for a kiss, but instead simply gave Corinne a hug. He immediately felt sorry for Amy. He wasn't however prepared for her to get out of the car and start knocking on the window.  
  
"Amy, NO!" Jeff yelled out. He had a vision of Amy in her anger suddenly breaking the window and pulling Corinne out by her hair. He started unbuckling his seat belt to get out of the car.  
  
"What the..." Matt said when he saw Amy knocking on Corinne's window.  
  
"Oh, it's Amy right?" Corinne said opening the door.  
  
Jeff was ready for a cat fight but was surprised when after Corinne opened the door Amy pasted a huge smile on her face and said: "Hey, I thought it was you guys, umm you know I just realized how rude I was before and I was wondering if you and Matt and Jeff and I could all hang out tonight."  
  
"Thanks Ames, but Corinne and I should be heading out to Stamford tonight." Matt said uncomfortably.  
  
"Oh, well, maybe next time?" Amy said.  
  
"Sure, I'd like really that," Corinne said, sensing some tension in the air.  
  
"Excuse me," She said before she opened her door since Amy had been leaning into the window.  
  
"Oh, sorry," Amy said laughingly,  
  
"Oh why don't I help you pack, my room is right next door."  
  
"Um, okay." Corinne said and walked ahead with Amy. Matt walked out of the car with a confused look on his face.  
  
"Matt have you told Corinne about Amy yet?"  
  
"What's there to tell?"  
  
"Oh, I don't know, that Amy and you have practically been a together for a span of years long enough for you to have been married and divorced multiple times."  
  
"Jeff, shut up."  
  
"Whatever, Corinne has no idea what situation she's in. Not only is there this insane guy after her but now she's involved in a love triangle that she doesn't even know was ever formed."  
  
"There's no triangle..."  
  
"Yeah okay...whatever man..." 


	22. Ch 22

Chapter 22  
  
"So..." Amy began.  
  
"Yeah?" Corinne asked.  
  
"I was just wondering what you did for the WWF?" Amy asked as she sat down on the bed while Corinne walked into the bathroom to gather her things.  
  
"Well, right now I'm an accountant. There's an opening in the communications department as far as the journalism part is concerned and I minored in communications so I'm hoping to eventually jump ship to that."  
  
"Oh, you're a writer."  
  
"Not really, I just enjoy it and even if I don't get the position, I just love wrestling in general."  
  
"Oh, like you're a fan."  
  
"Since I was six years old I must say."  
  
"Wow, and you never once thought about wrestling?" Amy asked, thinking "oh great, now they have things in common too."  
  
"Um, no. Well yeah like in my dreams but I'm just not physically able enough to wrestle I don't think. Not much of an athlete you know. I mean sure I love working out and running and stuff, but not that much. Umm and no offense, but it just wasn't a safe route for me. I mean you know, it's not exactly the most sure occupation."  
  
"Yeah, I guess." Amy said.  
  
"I guess that just means I was scared. I don't know, growing up in a huge family, I was always aware of our financial situation so when I was in school, that was always in the back of my head. Even now, I tend to equate fulfillment and happiness with money." She sighed, and then continued. "I've heard about how you got in the business...I mean that's amazing, I wish I had half as much guts as you did."  
  
"Thanks." Said Amy, watching her carefully and was frustrated at the naked trust Corinne seemed to have in her and how she just seemed so nice and honest.  
  
Matt and Jeff walked into the room just as Corinne was zipping up her bag. Matt picked it up for her.  
  
"So Amy, are you gonna be okay driving tomorrow?" Matt asked concernedly.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure we'll be fine," Amy said looking down on the floor, Matt was the only guy who was always a perfect gentleman to her, but it really wasn't until now, watching the way he looked at Corinne and the way that he had seemed to forget that she was even in the room during RAW that really made her feel threatened.  
  
"Well, I should go to bed now. Have a good....drive you guys." Amy said as she walked back into her own room.  
  
"Oh, Matt, I've got it." Corinne said trying to get her bag from him.  
  
"No, I've got it. Besides, all my stuff is in the car already."  
  
"But it's not even that heavy." Corinne protested.  
  
"Yeah, I know so let my brother carry it. He needs the work out more than you do." Jeff added.  
  
"Shut up Jeff." Matt retorted.  
  
"He doesn't need anything...I mean..." Corinne started to defend Matt, then stopped embarrassedly when she realized what defending him would imply. Matt had the decency to blush, while Jeff laughed at first, then said.  
  
"Wait a minute...what about me? Do I need anything?" When Corinne had no response, he grabbed the bag from his brother and started walking towards the door.  
  
"Fine then, I guess that means she thinks you have a better body than I do." He said pettily as Matt and Corinne followed him to the elevator.  
  
"Um, so where is Smackdown tomorrow?" Corinne asked as they rode the elevator down the hotel.  
  
"It's in Buffalo." Matt answered.  
  
When the elevator door opened, both Matt and Jeff waited until Corinne walked out before following.  
  
"So kids, you two have fun," Jeff leered suggestively, but after Corinne got in the car and both Matt and Jeff walked to the trunk, he said seriously, "And please Matt, don't try to be a hero. If something bad happens which I hope it won't, just call the cops."  
  
"I know, bro. I'll call your cell when we get there." Matt said, rounding the car to get to the drivers side, during which Jeff ran back to Corinne's window.  
  
"Hey, Cor...take care of yourself and don't be afraid to have fun with my brother's hot body." He said laughingly as she put her head down in embarrassment at which he bent down and whispered in her ear as Matt got in the car.  
  
"And don't worry about anything, cause Matt and I will be there for you."  
  
"Thanks Jeff."  
  
"Bye!" Matt yelled as he started the car. 


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23  
  
  
  
"You can sleep if you want." Matt said.  
  
"Nah, I don't think I can sleep right now. Besides, you should always have two people awake in the car at all times."  
  
"Ha, tell that to Jeff. That kid is a sleeping machine. There could be a tornado outside and he'd probably stay sleeping."  
  
"Really? It seems like if there was a tornado outside, he'd jump on his bike and see if it'll catch up with him."  
  
"True...hey wanna listen to some music?"  
  
"Sure" Corinne said.  
  
"Umm I have some cd's but they're all in the back. I don't really want to stop yet."  
  
"That's alright, let's just listen to the radio for now. We can do what my friends and I used to do on long road trips."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Change the station until we find a song we know and just start singing insanely."  
  
"All right but I'm not singing alone."  
  
"Okay, here we go...and we're both in the game right?"  
  
"Yep...start changing."  
  
Matt smiled as she eagerly turned on the radio, wrinkling her nose as she went past country stations and a few rap stations. He was glad that she seemed to be so much more relaxed and comfortable with him. She stopped when she heard the first few chords of "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam come on the radio.  
  
"Oh, this is staying on." They both said simultaneously.  
  
"Oh that's right, Jeff and you are obsessed with Pearl Jam right?" She asked laughingly.  
  
"Well...umm...yeah..." He said a bit shyly since his friends usually made fun of him.  
  
"Hey, dude, come on. Pearl Jam has got to be the best band in the world. Have some pride in your obsession."  
  
"You sound like you have some experience." He said smiling at her.  
  
"Um, you're talking to Stamford, CT's resident Pearl Jam freak. Let's just say that when I went away to college, I had no posters, a few pictures of family and friends, but the first thing I hung up on that wall was my picture of Eddie Vedder."  
  
"Ah, a girl after my own heart. Except for I just like Eddie Vedder's voice...I'm assuming it's a little more than appreciation of music for you?" Matt said with a wayward grin.  
  
"Whatever Matt...the guy's hot...I don't care what anyone says. Now sing!"  
  
They started singing together...horribly...but still they were having fun and it was definitely keeping both of their minds off of Ben. When the song finished, she started looking around for another song. As she was flipping she went past a Spanish station, then went back again.  
  
"I think I know this song..."  
  
"You know how to speak Spanish?" He asked curiously.  
  
"No...well a little bit. I have like 4 Spanish friends that I've kept in touch with since high school and they usually forget that I don't always understand them, so I've gotten used to hearing them speak it. I understand it MUCH better than I can speak it though. I think I know this song...yep...I do. I think I have the English version in one of my cds...Um." She racked her brain for the title and then the words hit her. "Oh, this is Inevitable by Shakira. Can we listen to it please? It's got a good beat."  
  
"All right, but you gotta tell me what the heck she's saying."  
  
"I'll try. Damn I used to know all the words. Okay, " To be true I must confess, making coffee and a mess...don't know anything bout football."  
  
She skipped a few verses cause she just couldn't remember the words for the life of her then the chorus came on.  
  
"I can't find any way to forget you because to keep on loving you is inevitable." Corinne said.  
  
"You gotta let me hear the whole English version, but it does have a pretty good beat." Matt said, but inside the words were revolving in his mind... "To keep on loving you is inevitable..." and he thought of Amy at first. "Am I really just destined to be with Amy?" He thought inwardly, and then was shaken out of his thoughts as the song ended and Corinne changed the station. He smiled as she stopped on Def Leppard's, "Pour Some Sugar on Me."  
  
"Do you like this song?"  
  
"Old school rock...definitely." She smiled at him as they both began singing again. 


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24  
  
They pulled into Corinne's house around 2:30 in the morning. They had driven straight down from Boston to Stamford, which took around 3 hours since there wasn't really a lot of traffic on the road. She walked to the back for him to open the trunk but he didn't until he was at the back as well so she wouldn't pick up her own bag. If there was one thing his father had taught him, it was never let a lady carry anything.  
  
"Matt, come on. The house is two feet away from the car. I can carry my own stuff."  
  
He just started walking towards the house. "See. That was easy," He said smiling down at her. She was about to argue again, but seeing the adorable proud smile on his face and she just couldn't say anything. She just shook her head and opened the door and reached in to turn on the light, allowing Matt to enter the house first and then closely followed.  
  
"All right, let me go fix up the guest bedroom for you."  
  
"Oh you don't have to do that, I'll just sleep on the couch."  
  
"The couch? Ooh, you don't want to sleep in that couch. It's old, and basically built for umm shall we say non-wrestlers to sleep on."  
  
"Well I want to sleep downstairs just in case."  
  
"Matt, I'm not going to let you sleep downstairs." "Why not?"  
  
"Because..." The phone rang before she could finish her excuse. Without thinking, she reached over to pick up the phone, and noted that the light on her answering machine was blinking quickly and fast almost like the lights in the city at night.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"You're home."  
  
"Who is this?" Corinne could feel her blood running cold at the quiet voice on the other line. Matt looked over to where Corinne was standing and immediately walked to the front door and made sure it was locked.  
  
"You can tell your little boyfriend to relax. I won't go after you tonight. It's too soon."  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Turn on the television and see what'll happen to you ..." He laughed harshly and hung up the phone.  
  
Corinne turned on the television and watched in horror as the news depicted an 18-year-old college student who had been raped and brutally murdered in New Haven.  
  
"The suspect is armed and extremely dangerous. The victim's neighbors who found the rapist just as he jumped from the victim's 2nd story balcony has given the police a very good sketch of the suspect and through it they have been able to identify the suspect as Benjamin Ribiero. Family members of the suspect are aware of the situation and are asking the suspect to turn himself in. If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of Benjamin Ribiero, please call the New Haven Police at 555-0909."  
  
Matt turned off the television. "What'd he say to you?" He asked concernedly.  
  
"He killed that girl Matt! And he said he's gonna do the same thing to me."  
  
"No, he's not. What exactly did he say?" Matt asked, picking up the phone to call the police.  
  
"He said," She sat down on the couch slowly, "That he's not coming after me tonight. It's too obvious."  
  
"That's it, I'm calling the cops."  
  
She just nodded and waited while Matt spoke with the police. "Okay, why don't you go to bed. They're sending a car over here now."  
  
"Thanks Matt." She didn't really know what to say, just walked up the stairs to her bedroom, while Matt paced the living room waiting for the cop to come. Matt quickly walked outside when he saw the police car pull up to the side of the road.  
  
"Hello Officer."  
  
"Are you Matt Hardy?"  
  
"Yes, I was just wondering if..."  
  
"Don't you worry about it sir. We'll have someone posted out here every single hour of every day until this psycho is caught. Can you believe that he's related to a cop?"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah. Apparently the guy snapped after the cop brother made him spend a night in jail. He apparently flipped out and when he got out, he found out that both of his brothers disowned him. So...this is the girl that he first attacked?"  
  
"Well, yeah. I'm not really sure if she's the first." Matt said slowly.  
  
"Actually, reports say that since she," The cop said nodding up towards the house, "began pressing charges and his name got out, about three other girls have filed charges for rape against him."  
  
"God damn."  
  
"Yeah. It's serious now."  
  
Matt began to walk away from the cop but was stopped again.  
  
"Oh, um excuse me, you're a wrestler right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Could you sign this for my daughter. She's a big fan." The cop said extending a Dunkin Donuts napkin towards Matt.  
  
"No problem. Good night Officer."  
  
"Good night."  
  
Matt walked back to the house to find Corinne sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee, typing furiously into her laptop.  
  
She looked up as he walked in. "I put clean sheets in the guest room, which is upstairs and to the left and I emptied the..."  
  
"Corinne, what are you doing?"  
  
"Well, it's almost 4 am. I figure if I just stay up until 6:30 then get ready for work, I'd be able to get more work done that if I slept for 2 and a half hours and tried to get up in the morning. You should go to bed."  
  
"Let me see what you're writing first." He said, sitting down on the couch next to her.  
  
She quickly closed the laptop. "You really should go to bed."  
  
"And you should really let me see what you're writing."  
  
"No. It's not turning out the way I want it to be."  
  
"Come on please." He pleaded, pouting his lips.  
  
She laughed. "I swear, I've never seen a grown man pout before."  
  
"Ha!" He said, triumphantly pulling the laptop from her and lifted the top.  
  
I've been watching wrestling since I was six years old. In fact, one of my earliest memories as a child was sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night to watch it, a particular event that stayed in my mind was Elizabeth and Macho Man Randy Savage, getting married in the middle of the ring. It was almost ironic that when I was 8 years old, my family and I moved to Stamford, Ct. I had no idea at the age of 8, how much that move would affect my life. So I continued watching wrestling, of course at the time, or any time for that matter, it wasn't the "cool" think to be watching it especially when you're a girl and you're considered to be one of the "smart" girls, meaning, I was labeled. While I was supposed to be curling up in bed reading Pride and Prejudice (which is a great book by the way and everyone should do that at one time or another in their lives) I was also a closet wrestling fanatic. Never missing a single night of RAW, Smackdown, LiveWire, Superstars, you name it I watched it. No one really bugged me about it (cause no one knew about it), except for my father who believed and I think deep down still does believe, that I will eventually get over this obsession of mine. I believe he once said, "As long as you don't go to one of their shows, I don't care." And then it happened... Senior prom.... the first few hours of the After Prom one of those parent sponsored little shindigs to keep the kids from getting drunk and driving...there was a raffle. And I put every single ticket that I could find in that box that said...WWF Live Show, Sunday July 15th, New Haven Coliseum. Of course weird looks were given to me, but hey...that's where little brothers come in handy. So after a few, "Oh, my little brother loves wrestling," remarks (he hated it by the way, still does), and a few jokes from the friends, who knew about "the obsession", I was in the running well not really, it was kind of a shoe in, I won two tickets to a house show. So, those of you who were in New Haven, July 15th, yeah that was me in the third row, screaming and hollering when the Hardy Boys came out, and yes, cursing out Stacey Keibler and Torrie Wilson. But that's beside the point. After that first house show, I was rehooked on wrestling. This time, those live shows. It was awesome, for an almost life long fan to be able to witness matches that no one else would ever see. There was something about that exclusiveness that appealed to me.... Fast forward four years, I'm out of college and yep you guessed it, back in Stamford working for this fine, billion-dollar company. My father has stopped trying to understand me...guess it's for the best, but he still loves those free shirts I bring home to him, and my brother still hates wrestling.  
  
"How long did it take you to write that?"  
  
"Like 10 minutes. Now I have to bring it full circle and talk about the house shows I just saw this weekend."  
  
"Was that really true? That you won the tickets to a house show?"  
  
"Yeah. That's um, how I met Bobby. Ben's brother."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"So...what'd you think?"  
  
"I think it's really good."  
  
"Honestly?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
"I'm taking too long to get to the point."  
  
"No. I mean, you need to include all of that stuff cause it gives a lot of background to you. It's your first article right? So you need to introduce yourself. I just thought it'd be more effective if you gave them more information on you. What you do now, what you want to do. You know what I mean."  
  
"All right, I'm going upstairs. Um...I'm coming to work with you tomorrow." Matt said turning around from the stairs.  
  
"Why? I'll be fine Matt, do you realize the amount of security that building has?"  
  
"But still..."  
  
"Matt please just go to bed. I know you're exhausted." Corinne said, really not wanting to argue with him anymore.  
  
"Fine, but I'll be up bright and early to go with you to work...agreed?" Matt waited for her to agree to his plan.  
  
"Sure...if you get up." She answered back.  
  
"I will...Night Corinne." 


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25  
  
Matt woke up to the deafening sound of silence and the sunlight streaming through the windows of the guest room. Traveling for over 300 days in a year with his hyper younger brother and a now and then girlfriend didn't exactly allow for too much time to sleep in during the mornings. Even on weekends either Amy or Jeff would have come into his room to get him up... He got up from the bed confusedly then remembered where he was and why he was there. He had figured that she would have woken him up before she went to work. He stood up from the bed, discovered that it was already 10:30 in the morning and found a note on the side table.  
  
"Matt, I didn't want to wake you up. You look really tired so get some rest today all right. I'll be at work until around 7, but I'll try to come for lunch around 12. I called the police station and I made sure there'd be someone here for you and I got a ride from the other officer. I'll see you soon. Corinne."  
  
"An officer for me huh?" Matt thought, as he reached for his cell phone to call his brother.  
  
"Lo...."  
  
"Hey Jeffro."  
  
"Oh hey...Dad. How're you?"  
  
"Dad?"  
  
"Hang on Amy, it's my Dad."  
  
"Hi Mr. Hardy!" Matt heard Amy yell at the phone, then heard a door slam.  
  
"Matt? Matt? You still there?"  
  
"Why are you calling me Dad and where the hell are you?"  
  
"I'm in the men's bathroom. Amy has been following me all day." Jeff said.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Why? Because she's waiting for you to call. How's Corinne?"  
  
"Why is she waiting for me to call? Oh, she's good. She went to work."  
  
"Matt, I just saw the news. Can you believe that psycho? He killed a girl."  
  
"I know Jeff. I actually better go. I'd feel better being with Corinne and making sure she's okay."  
  
"You idiot. You let her go to work alone?" Jeff said angrily.  
  
"She didn't wake me up," Matt said defensively.  
  
"Oh. Um, Matt sorry to add to the problem, but Amy wants you back."  
  
"Jeff..."  
  
"I know, but see that's why she's been bugging me. I think she's really worried about Cor..."  
  
"Jeff I've gotta go. Do me a favor. Make it clear to Amy that I'm not looking for a relationship right now."  
  
"But..."  
  
"I mean it. I'm really not. I'm happy just being friends with people. I don't know. I just can't deal with that right now."  
  
"I got you...keep me posted and be careful Matt. I'll drive to Corinne's on Thursday, cause I promised Beth I'd be with her tomorrow. We can go home together."  
  
"We'll see. I'm not leaving her..."  
  
"I know, I know...until he's caught."  
  
"Jeff he called here last night."  
  
"Shit. Are you serious?"  
  
"Yeah. I've really gotta go."  
  
"Tell her I said hi."  
  
"I will. Bye Jeff." Matt hung up the phone and quickly ran to the bathroom. It took him about twenty minutes to take a shower, another ten minutes to get dressed. By the time he was dressed it was already 11:15. As he bounded down the stairs he stopped short of the living room as he spotted a cop sitting with a cup of coffee on the couch.  
  
"Morning Mr. Hardy. Pardon me for being here but Ms. Miller offered me the pot of coffee she left in the kitchen. I figured..."  
  
"Oh it's fine. Um, is there an officer with her right now?"  
  
"Of course sir. But I'm also supposed to stay by her house at all times."  
  
"Good. So you stay here and I'm going to go see her." Matt said decidedly walking quickly to the door.  
  
"Mr. Hardy!" The cop called out.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Ms. Miller has requested that I stay with you." The officer said embarrassedly since he had a smaller frame than Matt and yet was supposed to protect him.  
  
"Oh, well...I don't really need you." Matt said.  
  
"Of course sir, but..."  
  
"You'd better just stay here." Matt said and walked out to the car while the poor policeman watched helplessly as he drove quickly away. 


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26  
  
"How's Gil?" Amy asked suspiciously as Jeff walked out of the bathroom.  
  
"He's um good."  
  
"Oh really? That was Matt wasn't it."  
  
"No." Jeff said turning away to get some coffee. He placed in carefully on the table and just to waste time began to prepare it with milk and sugar.  
  
"Wait, what the hell is this...you drink your coffee black."  
  
"Um...my dad reminded me that I needed more calcium."  
  
"I just saw you chugging a galloon of milk this morning."  
  
"So...I just wanted more milk...."  
  
"Uh huh...give me your cell phone."  
  
"No...it's broken"  
  
"What are you talking about? You were just using it five seconds ago."  
  
"Actually...I...dropped it in the toilet...here you still want it?" Jeff said offering the phone to Amy.  
  
"Ew..." Amy hesitated as she looked up at the phone Jeff was dangling in front of her face. Then noticed the smile he was trying to hide.  
  
"Give it to me," she said as she grabbed the phone from his hands. Jeff not expecting her to go for it, was shocked then immediately ran after her.  
  
"Amy no!" He yelled out as she pressed the buttons to find out who had been the last person to call.  
  
"Who were you talking to? That wasn't your dad. Wait a minute...203...isn't that the area code for Stamford?"  
  
"Yeah, so. I was talking to one of the people over there."  
  
"Who?" Amy said narrowing her eyes suspiciously.  
  
"Just some guy from the magazine. Give me that," Jeff said angrily grabbing his phone back.  
  
"You know, I don't need to justify myself to you or prove anything to you."  
  
"No, but I do deserve an honest answer." Amy retorted.  
  
"I was talking to Matt...and Ames, he really doesn't want to be in a relationship right now." Jeff said stone facedly.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?  
  
"Come on Amy, you know what I'm talking about. The reason why you want to know if he called so badly is because you're worried about Corinne."  
  
"Yeah, I saw the news. I hope nothing happens to that poor girl."  
  
"Bullshit Ames, I meant you're worried about Matt and Corinne."  
  
"There is no Matt and Corinne," Amy said vehemently without thinking.  
  
"See!"  
  
"I...whatever Jeff, the fact remains that..."  
  
"Ames, you have to stop this."  
  
"I have to go..." Amy quickly turned around and walked away from Jeff, unwilling and unable to believe the words that had just come out of his mouth. 


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27  
  
Matt entered the glass doors of the WWF building and took a look around. He could still remember the first time he and his brother had entered the same doors to beginning their career in the WWF. He shook his head at the sudden nostalgic memory. The lunch hour had come to the office and most of the employees had gone either downstairs to the cafeteria to get food or had driven out of the office to get some food. It was practically empty in the floor where Corinne worked.  
  
"So let me get this straight. You met his older brother four years ago and he knew that you knew his older brother and he still attacked you." The policeman said as he scribbled down notes in his yellow pad.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"See, now that's strange because usually rapists have a certain agenda. All of the other girls, who admitted to having been raped by him all said that they were taken from their cars and raped, just like you. Now this new girl, he attacked her at her house."  
  
"I know, he called me up and said that he was going to do the same thing to me. Oh god, he was showing me his plans.... It means he's going to come to my house." Corinne said shakily as the realization came over her and she jumped as the phone rang by her desk. The policeman ran over to the phone to connect a bug and waited for her to pick up the phone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"May I please speak to Corinne Miller?" A gruff sounding voice came over.  
  
"Yes, this is she," She answered back, shaking her head at the policeman  
  
"My name is William Swann, my daughter was Angela Swann. She was the girl that was raped and killed yesterday."  
  
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Mr. Swann." Corinne said, as she heard the man stifle a sob.  
  
"It's all right. You know, I just wanted to tell you that you won't have to worry anymore."  
  
"Excuse me?" Corinne asked concernedly.  
  
"You won't have to worry because he's dead. He took my little girl and now I'm going to kill him too." Corinne dropped the phone as she heard a shot ring through the air and an animalistic cry.  
  
"Oh my God!" 


	28. ch 28

Chapter 28  
  
Matt heard Corinne's voice as soon as he entered the doors of the office. He immediately ran to where she was standing shocked by the phone as the police man ran out of the office talking furiously through a cell phone.  
  
"Oh my god, Matt, I think he just killed Ben!"  
  
"What?!" He grabbed the phone she had dropped and heard another shot ring out.  
  
"Shit! Corinne who was that?"  
  
"It was the father of the girl who got raped last night. I...I didn't know what to say...oh god, he won't go to jail will he? He can't....he was doing....I don't know...."  
  
"Come on, let's go to the police station and find out what's going on."  
  
They quickly drove to the police station only to be told to go straight home by the cops as they rushed out of the office. Matt, never one to steer clear of action immediately followed the slew of cop cars to their destination, which to both Matt and Corinne's amazement was the abandoned house about two houses away from her own house.  
  
"Stay here," Matt said to Corinne as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.  
  
"Officer, what's going on? Is he dead?"  
  
"Sir, please steer clear of this area." Matt was pushed out of the way by two officers as they dragged out a stretcher from the house.  
  
Matt stood back then saw that they had pulled out another stretcher as well. He knew that it could only mean one thing, that the father had turned the gun on himself after shooting his daughter's rapist. He shook his head, said a prayer in his mind and walked slowly back to his car where Corinne was sitting, hand gripped tightly and head bent in prayer.  
  
"Corinne, I think they're both dead." He said quietly.  
  
She didn't say anything, but just reached for his hand and held it tightly as the sounds of the ambulances and sirens blared through the quiet neighborhood. 


	29. ch 29

Chapter 29  
  
Matt turned off the light next to Corinne's bed and looked down on her face as the setting sun displayed dancing shadows on the walls of her bedroom. After the questioning of the officers and the calls to family members of the two dead men, she had quite simply broken down and cried. But only in front of him. Never during the whole ordeal did she shed a tear, in front of the officers or on the phone with the rest of the Swann family, with whom she had insisted that she speak to. He was proud of her, since he knew that he himself had wanted to cry throughout the day at the lives that had been lost by the insanity of one worthless man who hopefully would burn in hell for all the cruelty he had unleashed in the world. He stood up quietly from the side of the bed he had sat on and noiselessly walked out into the dark hallway. He didn't turn on any lights. Somehow it didn't seem appropriate. As he walked into his own bedroom he heard his phone ringing and knowing who it would be, he picked up the phone.  
  
"Hey Jeff," Matt said grimly.  
  
"How is she?"  
  
"I finally got her to sleep. I think she blames herself."  
  
"No...don't think that Matt, she's a smart girl, she should know that this is no ones fault."  
  
"Yeah I know Jeff, but you know as well as I do that your mind can tell you one thing, but inside where it counts, your heart will tell you lies that you can't escape."  
  
"I know Matt. I couldn't believe it when I heard the news. Taylor is on her way there now, and you know I'll be there as soon as I can."  
  
"I know bro. I'm glad Taylor's coming. I mean I know that Corinne trusts me but I'm not sure I can say anything that'll make her feel any better."  
  
"I don't think anyone can."  
  
There was silence between the two brothers and it was in that brief stillness that they could both feel what the other was thinking. No words needed to be exchanged between them.  
  
"Bye Jeff."  
  
"Bye Matt." 


	30. ch 30

Chapter 30  
  
Matt watched Corinne's face with the light of the moon. He could remember that first night at the hotel room when she had slept in the bed next to him, and watching the soft moonlight on her face had brought him such peace. If only he could do the same for her...  
  
"Matt?" She whispered, he had been looking at her so intently but his mind lost elsewhere that he had not realized she had woken up.  
  
"Hey sweetie, how're you feeling?" Matt asked walking over to the bed and kneeling by her.  
  
"I don't know...I feel....numb I guess. I can't help feeling like if I had just let him rape me...then none of this..."  
  
"No...don't think that Corinne. Because if anything had happened to you that night, I don't know what it would have done to me."  
  
"Oh Matt," She said, realizing how much her words had affected him when he looked up and a tear ran down his cheek. She got out of bed and hugged him close to her.  
  
"Corinne, can I hold you...I just need to feel you near me tonight." She nodded slowly and pulled him with her to the bed. They fell asleep that night holding each other tight. 


	31. ch 31

Chapter 31  
  
Matt turned over in his sleep and reached for Corinne. He patted the side of the bed where she had been last night and felt cool sheets. He opened one eye and realized that he was alone in the room. Awareness returned to him as he heard the sound of muffled voices downstairs.  
  
"So Matt's still in bed huh?" Jeff asked Corinne, as they sat down on the couch together.  
  
"Yeah, he's had a rough few nights. I'm sure he hasn't been able to sleep well with him worried about me and stuff."  
  
"That's good...well no, not that he was worried about you but you know him getting some rest. For as long as I can remember, Matt has always gotten up earlier than me. I mean after my mom died, she used to wake us up for school, but you know after she...he would get up every morning to make us lunch and then wake me up. Then after high school, he went off to college, but he had to drop out cause my dad got sick and I was still in school then. Even now, we work together and stuff and he's always the one to get everyone together and get ready to go. And he still lives with my dad and even when he's home, I know he gets up early to help my dad out with work in the farm."  
  
"He's a great guy," Corinne said a little wistfully as she looked to the direction of the stairs which went up to the bedrooms.  
  
Jeff noticed the unconscious action and said, "It's a wonder some lucky girl hasn't snapped him up yet." Corinne realizing what she must have looked like, quickly turned back to Jeff and smiled.  
  
"And you know he's single...." Jeff was interrupted by the sound of Matt running down the stairs.  
  
"Yo Jeffro...what time did you get here?" Matt said, then sat down next to Corinne.  
  
"Oh you know like an hour ago. I felt bad barging in you guys like that so I waited outside for a few minutes but then I saw Corinne through the window so I figured you both would be up. I was pleasantly mistaken and was able to enjoy some alone time with Corinne over here." Jeff said, winking at Corinne.  
  
"Oh yeah? How's Beth?" Matt said, placing an arm unconsciously around Corinne's shoulder in a rare show of possessiveness.  
  
"Oh she's good...a little disappointed that I couldn't stay longer but oh she said she'll keep you in her prayers Corinne."  
  
"That's sweet." Corinne said.  
  
"You think so? I think Beth is insane...she's so...normal...and yet she's with this bozo over here." Matt said laughing at the outraged expression on Jeff's face.  
  
"No but seriously, Jeff's a big softie around Beth...here watch this...Jeff would you bleach your hair back to blonde and grow a normal hair-do for Beth?"  
  
"Yeah...but she would never ask me that...why has she said anything to you?" Jeff said with a tinge of worry in his voice.  
  
"I'm sure she didn't...did she Matt?" Corinne asked.  
  
"No of course not. But that's exactly what I mean...had she said anything at all, Jeff here would trip all over himself to please her. It's just sick if you ask me."  
  
"I think it's sweet Jeff," Corinne said and then noticing the embarrassed expression on Jeff's face, decided to change the topic.  
  
"I'm going to go make some coffee? You want?" She said, looking from Matt to Jeff.  
  
"Oh sure, you want me to help you?" Matt asked.  
  
"No, I'll be fine. You guys just stay here and relax." Corinne said as she stood up and headed for the kitchen.  
  
"So...how is she really?" Jeff asked cautiously after Corinne entered the kitchen doors.  
  
"Well...she was really upset yesterday but let me tell you...she's taking it a hell of a lot better than me. I mean...last night, I was watching her sleep and she woke up all of a sudden and I asked her how she was feeling. She said that she felt bad because had she let him rape her, the Swann's would never have been affected. And I lost control, I mean all I could see in my mind was what would have happened, had she gotten raped. And she comforted...she made me feel better when the last thing she should have been thinking off was another person." Matt said lost in thought.  
  
"You really care about her don't you?" Jeff asked.  
  
"Yeah I do...I..."  
  
"What about Amy?" Jeff asked carefully.  
  
"What about her?" Before Jeff could finish his inquiry, Corinne walked out of the kitchen.  
  
"Hey guys, I hope you both drink it black cause I'm afraid I ran out of milk and sugar."  
  
"Great...cause we both drink it black." Jeff said standing up to take a cup out of her hands.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"So what's your plan for next week?" Corinne asked.  
  
"Well...we're scheduled to be in Fort Wayne, Indiana by Monday and on Tuesday we're due to be in Kentucky. And then we've got a house show in Chicago on Saturday and Sunday night." Jeff said rattling off the places and days off of the top of his head.  
  
"Damn...busy schedule."  
  
"Yeah, but I mean we're pretty used to it by now." Jeff said, noticing that his brother was sitting very quietly.  
  
"Corinne...why don't you come with us?" Matt asked all of a sudden.  
  
"What? No, Matt. I can't. Work you know. And as it is...this past few days haven't really allowed me much time to concentrate on work." Corinne answered regretfully.  
  
"Oh...sorry. Umm...well you don't have to work today do you?" He asked.  
  
"No...actually I'm off until Monday."  
  
"How about you come home with us? I mean it's only Thursday, you have four days to relax."  
  
"No. I shouldn't Matt. I've got to..." Before she could continue she was interrupted by a knock on the front door.  
  
"Let me get that." Matt said, rising from the couch.  
  
"Matty!" Julia squealed jumping up into Matt's arms.  
  
"Ah...Queen Jules!" Jeff said following Matt to the front door and taking Julia from him as Matt picked up Taylor's luggage.  
  
"Taylor! I can't believe you're here." Matt and Jeff watched as the two women hugged.  
  
"Corinne!" Julia yelled as she rushed over to her as well.  
  
"Hey Jeff, will you guys watch Julie, I want to talk to Corinne for a minute."  
  
"Sure thing Tay," Jeff said, taking Julie away from them and taking her out to the backyard. Matt followed, albeit reluctantly, but still, followed Julie and Jeff out the back door.  
  
"So how are you? Really? Is everything okay? I couldn't really get that many details out of Jeff, but right after he told me that the rapist was dead I just got on the next flight out of Canada."  
  
"Oh, we're both fine Taylor. I'm sorry to have caused you that much worry, but I'm fine. I'm just really thankful to have had Matt with me here last night. I don't know what I would have done without him."  
  
"I'm glad he was here then. He's a great guy you know."  
  
"Oh...I know he's a great guy. I mean last night I just had this breakdown...I mean I couldn't help thinking that nothing would have happened to the Swann's had I just sacrificed myself, and he cried...he cares about me...When I'm with him...I just feel safe you know...it's like as long as he's there I know that I'll be fine." Corinne said in amazement. "But now...I can't help thinking how hard it's going to be to not have him around. I guess I've just gotten used to that idea." She continued.  
  
Taylor looked at Corinne and shook her head. She could see that Corinne had fallen head over heels for Matt...but how did he feel about her? Taylor wondered to herself. "You'll be fine sweetie. Well...you know I don't mean to invite myself over but Julie and I don't really have any engagements next week...so if you don't mind, maybe we could be your transitional protectors?" Taylor smiled as Corinne laughed.  
  
"It'll be great. And isn't it convenient that Chris has a photo shoot this week in Stamford. That'll be great." Corinne said, knowing that her friend probably did have work to do but would give it up to spend time with her. She marveled at this new family she had luckily stumbled into.  
  
.....................................................  
  
"Hey Matt what are you thinking about?" Jeff said, keeping an eye on Julie as she ran around Corinne's backyard while sitting down next to his brother.  
  
"Well...now that she doesn't need me...do you think it's over?" Matt asked quietly.  
  
Jeff turned to look at his brother. He had never heard Matt sound so vulnerable. "What exactly would be over?" Jeff asked.  
  
"You know, my relationship with Corinne. I've...grown to care for her a lot more than I ever thought possible in a matter of days."  
  
"Look...the way I see it is that if you want something to come out of this, it's all up to you. She's not involved with anyone and neither are you. It's all about how much you want it." Jeff said.  
  
"We'll see...my problem is that I don't know if she's willing to have a relationship with me."  
  
"Why wouldn't she be?" "Well I mean come on, how would I know whether she really likes me for me or if she likes me just because I stayed with her. And if...."  
  
"Whoa Matt...chill...look just leave it alone for now and keep in touch with her. I mean you've only known each other for a few weeks. Just you know make sure you don't leave her alone too long." 


	32. ch 32

Chapter 32  
  
"Bye guys, have a safe drive." Corinne said waving from her front door as Matt and Jeff loaded up the car.  
  
"Peace..."Jeff said as he got into the passenger seat while Matt walked back to the door.  
  
"Hey...stay safe all right?" He said, warm brown eyes softening with worry.  
  
"I'll be fine Matt. You stay safe. And thanks for everything." She said, leaning forward and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek.  
  
"I'll call you tonight all right?" Matt said walking back to the car.  
  
"I'll be waiting."  
  
"Bye Rinnie-rinne-rinne," Jeff called out from the window.  
  
"Bye Jeffie-jeff-jeff!" She watched as they drove off and didn't go back inside until the car had disappeared from the road.  
  
"Hey, mommy said she can't figure out how to work your coffee machine." Julie said tugging on Corinne's pant leg.  
  
"All right, come on sweetie." Corinne replied smiling at Julie as she held her arms up to be picked up.  
  
Later on that evening....  
  
Corinne had just finished putting on her make up when the phone rang. "Hello...I'm calling for Ms. Corinne Miller...you've won the hot caller of the month, and I'm your free call...so tell me, what do you want me to do with you tonight?"  
  
"Hey Matt, how was the drive?" Corinne said, laughingly.  
  
"Oh same old same old....Jeff started snoring about an hour after we left your house and so after that it was just me and Eddie."  
  
"Eddie huh? How the hell was he with you and me at the same time."  
  
"What the? Cheating on me already huh?"  
  
"Oh yeah Matt, two seconds after you left, Eddie and I got it on in the bathroom, kitchen oh and did I mention my backyard?"  
  
"Whooaaaa...Corinne and Eddie Vedder...sucks for you dude." Jeff said snickering on the other line.  
  
"Get off the phone Jeff!" Matt yelled.  
  
Corinne laughed as she heard a scuffle begin on the other line. "Give me the stupid..."  
  
"Ow...alright...Matt...ow...NOT THE HAIR!"  
  
"Oh my god..." Corinne giggled as Matt finally got back on the phone.  
  
"Sorry about that."  
  
"It's okay...look um, Taylor, Julie and I are just on our way out, so I'll talk to you later okay?"  
  
"Sure thing hun. Bye!" Matt grinned as he hung up the phone.  
  
"Ah hah...Beth come over here...Matt looks so goofy..." Jeff said jumping on his brothers back.  
  
"Dude...get off me." Matt said trying to shake him off.  
  
"Beth you gotta....oh shit Matt...shit...dude it's fucking raining outside...ah shit!" Jeff yelled as his brother walked out side and dumped him on the muddy dirt road on the back of their fathers house where all three had decided to meet up.  
  
"Matthew Moore Hardy....how old are you?" Gilbert Hardy called out, shaking his head at his two sons.  
  
"Dad...you saw that right..." Jeff said, trying to kick mud at his brother.  
  
"You little shit head...come back here." Matt yelled as Jeff tried to run away from him.  
  
"Oh man...you both have the mentality of two year olds." Beth shouted out at them as they both ran after each other in the rain. 


	33. ch 33

Chapter 33  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey!" Matt said smiling as he heard her voice. He had been waiting for this moment all day.  
  
"Matt? Hey! How are you?" Corinne asked elatedly. Work had been harder than usual in the past few days and her nightly phone calls with Matt was usually the highlight of her day.  
  
"Oh you know, a little sore but I'm good."  
  
"Oh yeah, I saw that stiff bump that you took." Corinne said wincing as she remembered the Shane Helms doing a bad tornadoe DDT.  
  
"Oh no, that wasn't a bump, that was Shane screwing up. Anyways, how was your day?"  
  
"Same old, same old. I'm back to inputting data and presenting it in a pretty package for the public. Oh but one good thing happened today, they posted my article on the website."  
  
"The one on house shows and stuff? Awesome, I'll have to take a look at that." Matt said enthusiastically.  
  
"Not like you haven't read it before." Corinne smiled since she had actually emailed the article to him a few times before allowing the webmaster to place it on the site.  
  
"Yeah, but you may have dropped some surprises in there. Can't have that now can we?"  
  
"No I guess not, so where are you guys headed next."  
  
"I think Kentucky and then I'm off for a few days. How about you?"  
  
"Oh you know...work is work. I have a meeting with Stephanie tomorrow though, I think possibly another writing assignment so you never know..I might just be on the road with you soon."  
  
"Good deal, Jeff and I miss you a lot."  
  
"Aww, I miss you guys too! How is Jeff anyways?"  
  
"Ah...he had a little mishap with the razor last night...I believe he was trying to write Beth on the side of his head...I don't think the razor liked the h on her name so Jeff's got a decent cut on his head."  
  
"Poor thing, tell him I hope she appreciates his ummm show of love for her?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess you could call it that, I'll tell him though." Matt said.  
  
"Tell me what? I want to talk to her Matt! You're always monopolizing her on the phone!" Jeff whined in the background.  
  
"Get away Jeff. She said she hopes Beth appreciates your show of love. So Cor, how's everything else other than work?"  
  
"Um, everything's great. I talked to Mrs. Swann the other night, she wanted to thank me for making sure that Mr. Swann's name wasn't going in the records as a killer, but as defender instead."  
  
"Oh that's good. How is their family?" Matt asked concernedly.  
  
"Well considering everything that's happened, she said that the family has really come together. She's living with her sister right now in Georgia. I'm sure it's hard for her but all things considered, I think she's gonna be fine."  
  
"Yo Matt, I'm gonna go over to Jay and Adam's hotel room. Bye Corinne!" Jeff yelled in the background and then Corinne heard the door slam.  
  
"Jeff says bye. Wow, I can't believe I haven't seen you in almost a month. I seriously miss you." Matt said lying back on the pillows of the hotel bed.  
  
"I miss you too. After Taylor and Julie left it got insanely quiet here. I never realized how much I missed having people around."  
  
"Yeah, and I never realized how relaxing it was to wake up in the same house for a few days in a row. Even back home I was either at my dad's or Jeff's. It gets bothersome sometimes." Matt replied, in his mind he thought about the fact that if he had even been less than ten hours away from where she was, he would have driven over there in a heartbeat.  
  
"Yeah, but it must be great to have all your family. My relatives are just all spread out now. I mean my parents are only like two hours away but who wants to drive that much just to spend the night and go back the next day. Way too much trouble for me and not to mention the gas...at least my friends live pretty near by. But even then, sometimes I'm just too tired to make the drive, all I wanna do is go straight home from work. I just wish there was someone here sometimes to come home to you know?" Corinne said twirling the phone cord around her fingers.  
  
"Yeah, but it sucks coming home to my brother and my dad. I mean come on...it's not all that appealing."  
  
"Hey, Jeff's pretty hot, Matt...what are you complaining about?" Corinne said jokingly.  
  
"Yeah, right. You're doing okay though right?" Matt asked concernedly.  
  
"I'm fine. I have to go to bed soon though, Jesus I totally didn't realize that it was almost 2. What time is there?" Corinne asked.  
  
"Umm, almost 1. I forgot about the time difference."  
  
"It's okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow okay?"  
  
"You couldn't get the phone out of my hands even if you tried."  
  
"Bye Matt."  
  
"Bye." After he heard the phone click on the other line he laid back in his bed and smiled. After talking to her, he always got this warm cozy feeling. Somehow, it felt like home to him. He was just about to turn off the lights and go to bed too when a sudden knock came on the door.  
  
"Jeff, you ass...did you leave the key here again." Matt said rising from the bed to open the door.  
  
"Hey stranger."  
  
"Amy!" Matt said in surprise. 


	34. ch 34

Chapter 34  
  
"Surprise?" She slurred, pushing past him and into the bedroom.  
  
"Are you drunk?" Matt asked in shock. Sure Amy drank, but she was never one to let herself go.  
  
"No...not yet...but we can be." She said pulling out a bottle of champagne from behind her.  
  
"Okay, why don't you take off your coat and sit down." Matt said trying to push her down on the bed.  
  
"No...I don't want to sit down yet. Why don't you pay attention to me anymore?" Amy said angrily with a disgruntled expression on her face.  
  
"Aims, listen, sit down okay, you're drunk."  
  
"No I'm not. I never get drunk Matthew...I came here with a very clear idea of exactly what I wanted to say to you and I'm going to say it." She said standing up as chose as she could get to him.  
  
"Fine, I'm just going to go and get you some water, you just sit here and think about what you're going to say to me." He said turning away and running to the bathroom.  
  
Amy looked around the hotel room and then took of the coat. She wasn't wearing much underneath it, just a bra and thongs. She was going to get him back no matter what.  
  
"Okay, now I want you to drink this...Amy what the hell are you doing?" Matt said when he walked back into the bedroom to find a near naked Amy stretched out on the bed.  
  
"Matt...I want you back." She said huskily.  
  
"Amy..." Matt said slowly. He couldn't help but feel attracted to her and he knew that any other time he probably would have jumped at the chance, but now seeing her offering herself to him just didn't feel right.  
  
"Don't say anything." Amy said standing up and putting a finger on his lips. "I know you still love me...I know you do...And I want you to know that from now on, everything..." The shrill ring of the telephone interrupted Amy.  
  
Matt pulled away from her and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" He spoke hoarsely into the telephone.  
  
"Matt, are you okay?" Corinne asked concernedly.  
  
"Oh hey. No I'm fine. What's up?" Matt said turning away from Amy.  
  
"Um, I just forgot to say Happy Birthday." Corinne said.  
  
"It's not until...oh yeah after midnight. Thanks."  
  
"Okay, good night."  
  
"Night." He said hanging up the phone. He stared at the phone thoughtfully completely forgetting that Amy was in the room and then jumped as she hugged him from behind.  
  
"I've miss you so much Matt." She said turning him around and unbuttoning his shirt, pressing fervent kisses down his broad chest.  
  
"Amy..." Matt said.  
  
"I've been so miserable and...What?" She said petulantly as he pushed her away.  
  
"I think you should leave."  
  
"What!?" she said in shock.  
  
"This isn't right. I want you to go." Matt said carefully yet resolutely.  
  
"I can't fucking believe this."  
  
"Amy, it's been over for three months. Come on. You should never have come here like that."  
  
"Yeah, well any other time your ass would have been fucking in your pants to see me like that. It's that bitch isn't it....it's Corinne." Amy ranted as she pulled on her coat and tied it.  
  
"Do not call her a bitch." Matt said irately.  
  
"Why not? That's what she is. She's a fucking bitch. God to think that I came here to try to get you back....How stupid can I be..." She ranted.  
  
"Don't you ever call her a bitch." Matt said gravely.  
  
"She is a bitch. And you're an even bigger dumbass than I thought you were if you really think she wants you...she doesn't...and furthermore, you're letting me go. This is the biggest mistake of your life buddy, and you're going to fucking regret this." She yelled in an angry tirade as she slammed the door. 


	35. ch 35

Chapter 35  
  
Jeff was just about to walk about to his own hotel room when his cell phone rang. Thinking that it was probably Beth since she would be the only to call him this late, he didn't even bother checking the number.  
  
"Hey Baby." He whispered huskily.  
  
"Do you answer your phone like that when anyone calls?" Corinne said.  
  
"Oh hey Corinne...did you get my message?"  
  
"Yep...so when is this surprise party going to be?"  
  
"This weekend...well actually you're the surprise. You sure you're ready to tell Matt how you feel about him?"  
  
"Jeff...I'm not sure. I mean how do you know that he doesn't already know how I feel but just doesn't to be with me?"  
  
"Corinne...believe me my brother has no idea. He's pretty dumb like that. I know you'll make him happy. I haven't seen him this content in a long long time." Jeff said. He had been trying to drop hints to both Matt and Corinne about how they should get together since they had last left Corinne's house. Now all his plans were coming together.   
  
"Okay, so here's the plan...we can have it at my house. Matt will come over or something and I'll have a little candlelight dinner thing set up by the pool. I'll be your waiter or whatever you guys want me to be and besides my kitchen leads to the pool so it'll be easy for me. What do you think?"  
  
"I think it sounds amazing. So my flight for North Carolina leaves tomorrow morning. Is Beth going to meet me at your house?" Corinne asked.  
  
"Yep, I told her to expect you around 12, but right after she greets you she has to leave to go to her parents house in Georgia so feel free to do whatever you want with the house...and the spare bedroom of course." Jeff snickered.  
  
"Shut up Jeff. And thanks...for everything."  
  
"No problem, it's a pleasure. Getting you two kids together has been the highlight of my...well not really...but it's been great fun. And I know you both deserve each other."  
  
"But Jeff...what about Amy?" Corinne asked hesitantly.  
  
"What about Amy? Believe me Corinne; it's over between my brother and her. You've got a clear sailing right to my brother's heart."  
  
"You're so poetic. I'd better go. See you tomorrow."  
  
"Bye." Jeff hung up the phone and whistled as he walked back to the hotel room. He didn't see the flash of red hair disappear from around the corner. 


	36. ch 36

Chapter 36  
  
Corinne stepped out of the rental car she had gotten from the airport. She glanced down at the piece of paper containing Jeff's address and made sure she was in the right place. She had just pulled out her suitcase from the trunk of the car when a medium height blonde girl ran out of the house.  
  
"Hey Corinne! I'm Beth, I'm so glad to finally meet you in person." She said shaking her hand vigorously. "Here let me help you with that."  
  
"Oh, thanks. I've got it. Wow, Jeff has an amazing house."  
  
"Yeah...he doesn't spare any costs for it or anything. You've got to see the "scene" by the pool. I've been given very specific orders by Jeffro, from the position of the very last candle." She said hyperactively as they walked up to the house.  
  
"Candles? That's sweet. I'm so nervous."  
  
"Aww, don't be hun, believe me, you've got Matt wrapped around your little finger." Beth said consolingly.  
  
"Really? I don't know about this, I mean Jeff said that..." Corinne began.  
  
"Oh forget about what Jeff said. Let me tell you from a girls perspective okay? I've seen him when he gets off the phone with you and like the look on his face....it's amazing...he just has this little smile on his face and it stays with him the whole day. Like I remember one night when I think you had to go to one of your friends house or something for dinner, and he tried calling you when he thought you'd be home. He tried the office and you weren't there and he paced around like an animal for the rest of the day. Believe me...Matt wants this to happen, and I think it's so sweet, that you're going to surprise him like this." Beth sighed.   
  
She was always a little protective of Matt since she had known Jeff and him for so long. The few of her friends whom she had deemed worthy to even date him had come back utterly in love with him and yet unable to capture anything more than the friendliness he gave everybody. Of course then there was Amy...  
  
"So it's so weird to meet you, I mean I've heard so much about you already." Beth said, dismissing the thought from her mind as she smiled at Corinne.  
  
"Yeah, same here. Honestly, I still can't believe that I'm friends with Matt and Jeff. This whole thing is pretty surreal."  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure. I met Jeff a while ago and we've been together for a really long time, sometimes I watch their matches and I just think, god, that Jeff is not my Jeff. He's like a completely different entity. Oh crap, I have to go in like an hour, let me show you around." Beth said as she looked at her watch.  
  
"So you're going to parent's house right?"  
  
"Yeah, it's my grandpa's 90th birthday. Jeff's probably going to come the tomorrow cause I mean I'm sure after tonight Matt and you will want to spend sometime alone."  
  
"Umm, I hope so." Corinne said, feeling a little like she was celebrating much too soon.  
  
"Oh you will." Beth said as she led her to the back of the house. They walked through the kitchen and out the glass doors overlooking the pool.  
  
"Wow..." Corinne said as she looked around. A small round table was placed a few spaces near the pool. Magnolias floated in the water and different sized candles were placed all around the pool, the wall around the area and the ground with just one path leading from the door of the kitchen to the back entrance of the pool area.  
  
"Jeff and I started planning this on the phone last week and a few of their friends helped me set this up last night. It'll look even better at night. "  
  
"Beth, this is amazing."  
  
"Thanks. Now come on, I want to see the dress you're going to wear when we pull this off and I've got to show you the spare bedroom. Don't worry about the cooking too. A friend of mine is a caterer and Jeff's going to pick up the food from her place and bring it here."  
  
"Thank you so much. You guys are amazing."  
  
"Well, Matt deserves the best and Jeff thinks he found it in you. He's rarely ever wrong about these things you know..."  
  
"I'm sure. He found you didn't he."  
  
They both smiled at each other, with complete understanding of how those two brothers could capture a heart so deeply that they knew nothing would ever the right without them there. 


	37. ch 37

Chapter 37  
  
Matt, Jeff and Amy walked out of the airport terminal together, and then headed to separate cars. It had been an awkward flight the whole way through with Jeff sitting with Matt and Amy sat across the aisle from them. Whenever Jeff had tried to start a conversation his attempts were met with one-word answers and awkward silence.  
  
"What the hell was that about?"  
  
"What? Can you drive, I want to make a phone call." Matt said.  
  
"Sure I'll drive. And what the hell do you mean what? That plane ride was insane.... what's going on with you and Amy?"  
  
"Nothing, forget it. I don't want to talk about it...I'm just glad to be home." Matt said as he leaned back in the passenger seat of the car and pulled out his cell phone.  
  
"Okay, fine but you know this conversation isn't over. Who're you calling?"  
  
"Corinne....ugh...where is she? I've been calling all day."  
  
"Relax Matt, I'm sure she's just at the mall or the supermarket or something...chill beast. So can I drop you off at Dad's?"  
  
"Sure, let me drop my stuff off and then can I come over and take a swim?"  
  
"Um, no. Sorry, Beth and I well you know..."  
  
"Oh I got you."  
  
"Yeah, but she's going to Georgia tonight. I think I'm gonna have some peoples over tonight, so come."  
  
"I don't know. I'm not sure I'm up to hanging around tonight." Matt said, thinking about the situation with Amy.  
  
"Well, Amy's not coming so if that's what's worrying you, then you're clear. Oh and did I mention I'm getting the front door redone? Come through the back okay?"  
  
"What the...the front door? There was nothing wrong with it Jeff. I swear to god, you waste money so much."  
  
"No expense is too much. I'm thinking the door should be black instead of the red that is right now. You know, just to mix things up a bit. Oh and just in case Beth and I are well you know...call ahead this time okay?" Jeff said.  
  
"Hell yeah," Matt said, remembering when he had come over unexpectedly one day and caught a shocked Jeff and Beth in the middle of a rather scandalizing position in the middle of the kitchen floor. He picked up the phone again to call Corinne but Jeff grabbed it away from him before he could dial.  
  
"Good God Matt, you'd think you guys were together the way you keep on checking up on her. What if she was on a date?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well...a date. You guys have never actually set anything about your relationship have you?" Jeff said inwardly laughing at the expression on Matt's face. His brother looked like he could commit murder.  
  
"What are you trying to say? Has she said anything about dating anyone?" Matt asked uncomfortably.  
  
"No...but you never know. Maybe since you and Amy aren't together anymore, you should get out there too." Jeff instigated.  
  
"I don't want anyone else but..." Matt's thoughts trailed off as the realization of how much he really liked her came to mind.  
  
"Oh, look, were home. See ya later bro." Jeff said, a wide grin on his face as he pushed a dazed Matt out of the car. 


	38. ch 38

Chapter 38  
  
Jeff let himself into the house around 5 in the afternoon, since after dropping off his brother, he had to drive almost 2 hours to get to where Beth's caterer friend lived and then back to his own house. He hoped Corinne was ready.  
  
"Jeff, is that you?" He heard her ask from up the stairs.  
  
"No, it's Matt." Jeff said lowering the tone of his voice mockingly.  
  
"Shut up." She said as she ran down the stairs.  
  
"Wow." Jeff said placing down the bags as he saw her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You look amazing..."Jeff said.  
  
She was wearing a simple, knee-length black strapless dress. Simple strappy sandals and subtle silver jewelry completed the look. Her long curly hair had been left down, the curls rested on her bare shoulders.  
  
"Thanks. Beth helped me fix my hair and then she left. I'm afraid she didn't leave at the time she was supposed but she got all caught up about getting me ready that she just completely forgot the time."  
  
"All this for my brother...he's a lucky guy."  
  
"Really lucky since he has you for a brother. Thank you so much Jeff. You've got to see what Beth did with the outside. I just finished lighting all the candles."  
  
"Woah...damn...Beth did do a good job. She said something about a lot of candles but this is absolutely amazing. She's going to get a big surprise from me for this."  
  
"Yeah, she said she'd better. So lets get the food ready." They turned around to head back into the kitchen. Meanwhile Amy ducked down in the dark trees in the corner of the pool area. Tears streamed down her face as she realized that she had no allies.  
  
"Even Jeff wants them to be together. I don't care...I'm not going to lose Matt. I can't." She said to herself determinedly as she watched Corinne and Jeff get everything ready. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed his number. Inside the house Corinne and Jeff were discussing whether or not she should be waiting for him outside or if she should come out to meet him.  
  
"I think you should come out to meet him. It'll be like double surprise you know. Besides then you can see the look in his face when you come out."  
  
"Okay, fine. He's gonna call right?"  
  
"Yep. He definitely will. Not unless we call him first, but I told him to make sure he called before he comes by. Believe me he will...he uh..walked in on Beth and I one day and it was a very awkward situation."  
  
"I bet. Thanks for leaving the details out. I can just imagine."  
  
"Oh you can't even begin to imagine. All right, now you just sit down and look purty, and I'll get everything ready like the waiter that I am tonight. Beth will kill me if you get anything on your dress." Jeff said grabbing an apron as Corinne sat down and nervously waited.  
  
.............................  
  
"Hello?" Matt said as he answered the phone. He had jumped when the phone had rang since he had been staring at it for over an hour trying to decide whether or not he should call Corinne.  
  
"Hey Matt. It's Amy."  
  
"Amy...hey. How're you?"  
  
"I really need to talk to you." She sniffled on the phone. She knew no matter what that if she needed Matt he would be there for her it was just the way that he was.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I just need to talk to you. I'm at Jeff's house. I'll meet in the back okay?"  
  
"Okay, I'll be right over." Matt didn't like the tone in her voice. She sounded really upset and even though he was still upset about the night before she was still his friend. His mind was so consumed with thoughts that he forgot to bring his cell phone too. 


	39. ch 39

Chapter 39  
  
Random thoughts were flying around Matt's head. He thought of Corinne, and Amy. He could see both of them, Corinne smiling at him, the feeling of her in his arms, he remembered how happy Amy and he had been in the early years, the way she kissed his neck, and then he remembered the hurt he felt each time she turned away from him and went to the next guy. Matt jumped out of his car and noted that there didn't seem to be anyone at Jeff's house. Usually when there was a party, the place was brimming with people, cars, and loud music. He headed towards the back where a sullen yellow light was gleaming in the dark night.  
  
.............................  
  
Amy sat by the table in the middle of the pool area and waited. She had heard the car door slam and knew that he was on his way.  
  
.............................  
  
Jeff and Corinne sat in the basement where there was a huge entertainment system watching a movie. Corinne kept on looking at the watch on the wall. It was 9:30.  
  
"What the hell is taking him so long to call?" Jeff said, standing up from the couch and stretching.  
  
"Maybe we should call him?"  
  
"Give me a sec." Jeff grabbed the portable phone and dialed Matt's cell number.  
  
"Hmm, no answer. That's weird. He might have fallen asleep. I'll just keep calling."  
  
"Okay." Corinne said worriedly.  
  
"Hey, why aren't you smiling? Don't worry about it kid, he'll be here." Jeff said nudging her chin up.  
  
"I'll be right back. Just going to go to the bathroom."  
  
"Okay, I'm going to go check on the food I guess." She said, rising from the couch and walked up the stairs towards the kitchen.  
  
.............................  
  
"Amy?" Matt said when he saw her amidst the soft light from the candles.  
  
"Hi Matt. Happy Birthday."  
  
"What is this? Did Jeff and you..."  
  
"Yeah, Jeff helped me." Amy said feeling a twinge of guilt but she steeled herself away from the feeling.  
  
"Oh my god. This is beautiful. Thank you." He walked up to Amy to hug her.  
  
"Come on Matt. Can you kiss me, for old time sake? I'm sorry about the other night. It's just that...I love you so much." Amy said, a single tear falling from her hazel eyes.  
  
Matt felt uncomfortable. And Amy could sense this so she looked up innocently.  
  
"Matt, were friends aren't we?"  
  
"Yes of course."  
  
"Well, just a little kiss. For old times sake..."  
  
"For old times sake," He whispered and gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek but before he could pull away Amy grabbed his shoulders and pressed her lips fully up to his.  
  
.............................  
  
Corinne walked into the kitchen. She grabbed the plate of food to place in back in the oven and as she turned around she saw a movement by the pool. The plate fell to the floor when she saw Matt walk towards Amy and kiss her passionately.  
  
"Oh my god..." She whispered to herself.  
  
"Corinne, how's the food coming?" Jeff asked walking over then saw the broken plate on the floor.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked then looked up to see Matt and Amy kissing in his backyard.  
  
"Holy shit." He said just as Corinne turned around and walked quickly away. .  
  
.............................  
  
Matt tried to disentangle himself from Amy but she was holding on to him ferociously tight. She was reaching down to unbutton his pants when he was finally able to pull himself away.  
  
"What the hell is the matter with you?" He said angrily, trying to fix his clothing.  
  
"Matt, I just don't understand you! I know you still want to be with me."  
  
"No, Amy. I don't. I want to be with Corinne, alright? Corinne! Get that through your thick head."  
  
"She doesn't want to be with you."  
  
"What?" "She doesn't want to be with you."  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?"  
  
"Do you want to know where she's been all day? She's been here. With Jeff. He dumped Beth for her and they've been here this whole day probably fucking their brains out."  
  
Matt's could fill the blood filling his brain.  
  
"You don't believe me do you? Go in there right now. But I warn you, you won't like what you see. Your little Corinne is just like any other girl. She wants your brother...not you!" She yelled as she ran away from him. Matt looked at the glow of the lights in the house. Jeff's words pounded his brain like waves crashing onto the coast.  
  
"Good God Matt, you'd think you guys were together the way you keep on checking up on her. What if she was on a date?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well...a date. You guys have never actually set anything about your relationship have you?"  
  
His hands shook as he pulled open the door to the house.  
  
.............................  
  
"Corinne, I'm so sorry. I don't know what's going on." Jeff said gravely as he sat down next to her on the couch.  
  
Her shoulders were shaking as silent sobs racked her body. "It's not your fault. I should have known that he would never want Amy over me. Why would he?"  
  
"Because you're beautiful, and you're smart, and you're the bravest woman I've ever met." Corinne hugged him and Jeff leaned in and kissed her softly on the forehead.  
  
.............................  
  
Matt heard the voices in the living room. He walked in to hear Jeff say: "....you're beautiful, and you're smart, and you're the bravest woman I've ever met."  
  
Then he saw Corinne lean forward to hug Jeff and saw him kiss her softly on the forehead. He turned away feeling his heart breaking and the anger running through his veins. As he walked out of the back door, he raised his fist at the glass covering the door and punched it, the sound of the breaking shards of glass echoing through the house. Blood ran down his arm, but Matt walked on oblivious to the pain.  
  
.............................  
  
The breaking glass made both Corinne and Jeff jump.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Jeff said as they both stood up to find where the noise had come from.  
  
They entered the kitchen and saw the broken glass, but didn't see Matt and Amy anywhere. Jeff looked at the blood on the glass and thought about his brother.  
  
"Jeff, I'm going home." Corinne said softly.  
  
"Wait, Corinne. There has to be a...."  
  
"No Jeff. It's over. I don't want to feel this way anymore. We tried, but it didn't work." She turned away to go upstairs but he grabbed her arm.  
  
"Corinne, it's late. At least stay the night." Jeff said softly. Her eyes softened as she looked at the pleading look in his eyes. The shape of them reminded her of Matt's deep brown eyes.  
  
She shook her head. "I can't. I have to go." 


	40. ch 40

Chapter 40  
  
"Okay, so now you do a reverse ddt on me and I'll get my foot on the ropes. Ready to try it out?" Rob said to Matt.  
  
"Matt? Matt?"  
  
"What?" Matt said, shaking away the far away look in his eyes.  
  
"What's with you?" Rob said shaking his head at him.  
  
"What? Nothing. What's the next move?"  
  
"I just said it. A reverse ddt and I get my foot on the ropes." Rob answered irritably.  
  
.............................  
  
"You see what I mean? The kid has been distracted for the past three months. He's been missing moves, his eyes are all sunken and god Vince, the kid looks like he hasn't slept in years. I personally think maybe he should take a break before he hurts himself or another wrestler." Pat Bischoff said to Vince as they watched the wrestlers practice before RAW.  
  
"You're wrong Pat. Sure Matt might be a bit distracted now, but both he and his brother are two of the hardest workers I have."  
  
"Well, taking Matt off the roster won't affect Jeff since they both decided they want to split the tag team. You can still have Jeff working. It's a matter of story lines..."  
  
"No Pat, Matt's one of the most focused people I've ever met. This is just a fluke. I'll have a talk with him tonight."  
  
"Sure thing boss. But you know my recommendation."  
  
"I'll think about..." Vince broke off as a commotion began at the ring area.  
  
.............................  
  
"You asshole! What the hell was that?" Rob yelled at Matt.  
  
"Shit, sorry. I didn't mean to do it so stiff."  
  
"Fuck you man. God you almost broke my back. What the hell is wrong with you?"  
  
"Rob, I'm sorry. Seriously I didn't..."  
  
"God, Matt. I know you're all hung up on that chick but leave me out of it. I'm sorry she's banging your brother...OW!" Rob shouted in pain as blood poured out of his nose.  
  
"Fuck you! You fucking prick, I never want to..." Matt broke off as Rob attacked him and tried to take him down.  
  
"GOD DAMNIT! MATT! ROB! BREAK IT UP!" Vince yelled as he tried to pull the two men apart.  
  
They finally separated, each with about three other wrestlers holding them back.  
  
"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on here?" Vince said angrily.  
  
"He fucked up the move Vince. And then he punched me. What the hell was I supposed to do? All I told him was not to take his anger on his brother out on me!" Rob said heaving for air as he glared angrily at Matt.  
  
"Matt? What the hell? This is not like you? What's going on with you and J..."  
  
"This is bullshit!" Matt grounded out furiously, then walked out of the ring, his feet echoing in the silent arena.  
  
"What the...What's going on with Matt and Jeff?" Vince said to the other wrestlers who all stood back looking down on the ground.  
  
"We don't really know Vince. I think it's something about some girl." Adam said quietly.  
  
All the wrestlers had noticed the tension between the two brothers but no one had really any guts to discuss it with either of them.  
  
"She's sleeping with Jeff and Matt can't...." Rob began.  
  
"Oh shut the fuck up Rob, you don't know what the hell is going on?" Adam said.  
  
"Alright, all of you get back to work. I'm going to get to the bottom of this." Vince said walking out of the ring with Pat following close behind him. 


	41. ch 41

Chapter 41  
  
"Now Matt, I want you to know that I think you're one of the best wrestlers I've got on my roster, but I can't let you wrestle."  
  
"Are you firing me?" Matt said incredulously.  
  
"No! Of course not...Ah here he is. Come in." Vince said standing up from his seat as a knock came on the door and Jeff walked in.  
  
"You wanted to see..." Jeff began then noticed Matt sitting on the other seat. He sighed resignedly then sat down on the other seat.  
  
"Now that I have both of you here I can say everything I want to say. Matt I'm taking you off the roster."  
  
"What? Why?" Matt said, he looked at his brother accusingly, but Jeff kept his face determinedly away.  
  
"Because of this afternoon. I can't let you work with my guys when you're violent like that. You could end up hurting yourself and not to mention others. Now I've heard from the boys in the back that there's some kind of conflict going on with both of you. I want to know what it is? And I don't want any bullshit about there's nothing wrong because I know there is."  
  
The two brothers sat silently and resolutely.  
  
"Jeff?"  
  
"You want to know what the problem is? My brother is a prick." Jeff snapped.  
  
"Oh fuck you Jeff. I'm the prick? You knew how I felt about her." Matt said furiously.  
  
"That's bullshit."  
  
"Will someone explain to me what you two are talking about?"  
  
"Corinne." They said simultaneously.  
  
"Corinne? Who?"  
  
"Well why don't you ask Jeff that. He's the expert on the little..."  
  
"Matt you say anything bad about her and I swear to God..."  
  
"Relax both of you! Good God! Will you tell me who the hell she is?"  
  
"She's Jeff's girlfriend." Matt said through gritted teeth.  
  
"What the hell does Beth have to do with all of this?" Vince said confusedly.  
  
Matt stood up abruptly knocking over the chair he had been sitting on.  
  
"You asshole. You didn't break up with Beth yet? Does Corinne know about this?" Matt said, fist clenched in anger.  
  
"What? Beth has nothing to do with this. And for your information Matt Corinne has already met Beth."  
  
"What?! I can't believe she's letting you use her like that."  
  
"What? Use her? What are you talking about?" Jeff said perplexed.  
  
"You're with Corinne and Beth?"  
  
"No! I love Beth. Corinne is my friend."  
  
"Well then what the hell was she doing at your house, making out with you for crying out loud." Matt ranted.  
  
"Making out with me? Are you insane? I love Beth." Jeff said earnestly.  
  
Matt looked at his brother's eyes, and could see that he really was telling the truth. He slowly sat down as doubt crept in his mind.  
  
"You are insane. Corinne was there to surprise you. To tell you that she wanted to be with you, but instead you showed up with Amy." Jeff said irately.  
  
"Amy? Damnit!" Vince said looking from brother to brother. He picked up the phone, "Pat, get Amy in here now!"  
  
"I didn't show up with Amy. She was there waiting for me. She was the one that told me about you guys." Matt said.  
  
"Tell you what? Corinne..." Jeff was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door.  
  
"Hey Vince, Pat said you wanted to see..." She broke off as she noticed Matt and Jeff staring at her. "What's going on here?"  
  
"Amy, I want you to explain to me what is going on here?" Vince said wearily scratching his head in confusion.  
  
"I'm not sure I know what you mean Vince?" She said looking down to the ground.  
  
"Amy, what were you doing at my house?" Jeff said.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"You said Jeff and you set the whole thing up..."Matt said hesitatingly as another scenario began in his mind. "Oh my god." He whispered as the realization hit him. He stood up shakily. "You bitch! You knew she would be there...didn't you? That's why you wanted me to kiss you."  
  
"God Amy! I can't believe you!" Jeff yelled.  
  
"I'm....Matt...I...." She said reaching for his arm.  
  
"Don't...don't touch me. God just looking at you makes me sick." Matt said heatedly.  
  
"I love you." She said, a tear running down from her face.  
  
"Well I don't love you! You got that! I DO NOT LOVE YOU! GET THAT THROUGH YOUR GODDAMNED HEAD." Matt yelled as he walked out the door.  
  
"Amy how could you?" Jeff said in disbelief.  
  
"I...I love him Jeff." Amy said unsteadily, tears appeared in her eyes.  
  
"No you don't. If you did, you'd never have done this to him." Jeff said shaking his head as he followed his brother out the door.  
  
"Amy...I..." Vince began uncomfortably.  
  
"It's okay Vince. I was wrong. I know it. Did you see his eyes? He hates me so much now." She said forlornly.  
  
"Amy...why? You must have known how he felt."  
  
"I know. I did know, and I was scared to lose him and now I've lost him in every possible way. He hates me so much." She cried.  
  
Vince sighed and stood up. "Amy, Matt will always care about you. I don't know how long this whole thing will take to blow over but I hope now you realize that all these games you play will only end up with people getting hurt. Now go."  
  
"Thanks Vince," Amy sniffled, then walked dejectedly out of the office. 


	42. ch 42

Chapter 42  
  
"Matt! Matt wait up!" Jeff called out as he ran after his brother. Matt paused in his haste and met his brother's eyes.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm sorry...I..."  
  
"What are you sorry for? Sorry that I'm a jackass and I just lost the most important person in my life?"  
  
"What...Matt you didn't lose her. She loves you. I know she did at least and I'm sure if you were back in her life she would fall in love with you all over again." Jeff said earnestly.  
  
"It's too late Jeff. She's with someone else."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Someone told me..."  
  
"Who? God Matt you must know by now that you can't trust people."  
  
"No...after this whole thing I um, hired someone. She's with someone else."  
  
"Matt, if you let her go like this then you really do deserve to lose her. Don't give up like this." Jeff said, looking at the gloom in his brother's face. "Look...I've watched you these past few months. You're not like yourself. You're not eating right and you're not even working out as much anymore." "  
  
"Nothing's important anymore. I never realized how trivial my life really is."  
  
"Matt, your life is not trivial. God knows what would have happened to her if you hadn't been there to save her. Matt please..."  
  
"No Jeff...it's too late. I can't do this anymore..." Matt interrupted him.  
  
"But..."  
  
"I have to go. I just...need to be alone right now. Tell Vince I'll call him when I'm ready." They both turned around when a voice called out.  
  
"You don't have to son. Take all the time you need. But Matt, take your brother's advice...find her." Vince said.  
  
"I can't Vince. I didn't deserve her then and I certainly don't deserve her now. She should be with someone who'd make her happy and I'm not that man." Matt said hopelessly then walked away from what he had once considered, his life. 


	43. ch 43

Chapter 43  
  
Matt looked at the twelve empty cans of beer littered around his feet. After walking out of the arena he had climbed into his car and has driven off. All he wanted to do was be with her, but deep down he was afraid...so he turned to the one thing he had always sworn would never win him over. He staggered to the bathroom and stared blearily at his reflection. The shadow of a beard and red-shot eyes met him.  
  
"Why couldn't it have been me?" He thought to himself, and then punched in the mirror. He looked down at the shattered mirror pieces littered around his feet. His reflection glared back at him in all the tiny pieces...taunting him... He had lied to his brother. He had never really followed up on Corinne...he knew he just couldn't take it if she was with someone else, even if not his brother. He glanced down at his watch. It was mid-morning already, he had stayed up all night just thinking of ways to somehow get her back but he couldn't. It was killing him to know that she had once loved him and he had thrown it away.  
  
He picked up the phone...  
  
"If I can just hear her voice...just listen to her be happy and maybe I can just forget about her and let her be happy the way she was before me." He thought to himself, unconsciously dialing the office number he had dialed and redialed in the past 3 months but had hung up on even afraid to hear her voice.  
  
"Jane Cramer?" An unfamiliar voice answered.  
  
"Uh...hello. May I please speak to Corinne Miller." He said hoarsely on the phone.  
  
"Umm, Corinne Miller? I'm sorry, I'm new at the office; let me find someone who's been here longer than I have....John, come here a sec!" the woman called out.  
  
"Hello?" The man said.  
  
"May I please speak to Corinne Miller?" Matt said. A brief pause followed.  
  
"Corinne quit a few months ago. I'm sorry, who is this?"  
  
"I'm an old friend...can you tell me where I can reach her?" Matt said, he could feel a pang in his stomach, he knew that Corinne loved her job at the WWF...what could make her quit?  
  
"I'm afraid she didn't leave a forwarding number. I'm sorry."  
  
"Um, it's okay. Thank you, good bye." Matt responded as he hung up the phone. He stared at it for a minute, and then tried her house number. The phone rang about 8 times before he finally hung up. He could feel the fear in his heart. And without even thinking about it, grabbed a jacket and got in his car.  
  
.............................  
  
Corinne stared at her caller id nervously just focusing on the area code.  
  
"Oh god, maybe it's Matt." She thought to herself then shook her head.  
  
"It must be Jeff again."  
  
When she had first gone home, Jeff had called a dozen times asking her to call him back and to talk to him. She couldn't. He reminded her too much of Matt, and she just couldn't take it anymore. After quitting the office job at the WWF, she had worked out a deal with Stephanie to write a column once in a while for the website and had been doing so since. She couldn't work at the building for fear of running into Jeff or even worse Matt. But she couldn't completely tear herself away from wrestling. It had always been her one passion and no matter what happened, she didn't want to lose it. After the first week of calls from Jeff and Taylor who had found out via Jeff about the whole situation she had pulled her answering machine off and had gotten a caller id to screen the calls. It was too hard to be reminded of Matt each time she picked up the phone. She looked outside at the fall leaves flying around in the cool autumn wind and sighed. She felt like those leaves, detached from the steadiness of a branch and living in the cold.  
  
"Matt..."She sighed to herself then wiped the tear from her cheek. When would she be able to forget him and find warmth again? 


	44. ch 44

Chapter 44  
  
Matt pulled into the highway heading out of North Carolina, the rain beating down on the window of the car. His mind was full of thoughts, worries, and the image of her face...he swerved the car to the right, narrowly missing another car as he pulled over on the side of the road.  
  
"Damn it! What the hell am I doing?" He said to himself dejectedly then slowly and carefully pulled back safely onto the left side of the highway perfectly meaning to get off at the next exit and go back home. He turned on the radio, switching stations randomly to try to disturb his thoughts of Corinne.  
  
A faintly familiar tune came on... (Note: this is a very rough, ROUGH translation of the song "Inevitable" by Shakira...sorry, but you'll get the picture)  
  
"To be true I must confess making coffee and a mess, don't know anything bout football.  
  
Been unfaithful once or twice, cannot even win a dance as for watches I don't use one.  
  
To be completely honest no one thinks of you quite the way I do...it's all the same to you now.  
  
To be true I must confess. I never sleep by twelve, never take a bath on Sundays.  
  
Since I'm telling you so much I cry out just once a month when the weather turns to freezing.  
  
With me nothing is easy only you can tell...you know me so well....  
  
I can't find anyway to forget you because to keep on loving you is inevitable.  
  
Always felt that it was true when we talk about me too I should be the first one to reveal.  
  
Sure you know what's going on nothings better since you're gone at the very least and baby, and you won't be returning nothing left to tell I know you so well.  
  
Every day that passes is the same just like used to be, I can't find any way to forget you because to keep on loving you is inevitable...."  
  
He had been driving, listening so intently to the song that he missed his exit.  
  
Even when the song ended the line, "I can't find any way to forget you because to keep on loving you is inevitable..." played over and over again in his mind. He drove and he drove, thinking about Corinne. He had barely survived the past three months without her...how much more could he take? When next he looked away from the road, it was dark, the moon cast a sullen shadow on all the trees around Corinne's quiet neighborhood. As the realization of how far he had driven hit him a burst of exhaustion plagued him and his head fell on the steering wheel. His head pounded and he felt weak headed.  
  
A single light flickered in her living room and he knew she was there... Corinne flipped through the channels uninterestedly. She paused in her silent musings when she heard a car stop near her house. She glanced at the window and at the time. It was almost midnight; she knew that none of her friends would stop by at this time. She jumped when the phone rang. She quickly glanced at the caller id and noted that it was Taylor. They had talked from time to time after Corinne had made certain that the topic would never be either Matt or Jeff. She picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey hey. Sorry I'm calling so late, but I figured you'd be up."  
  
"Yep I am. What's up?"  
  
"Um, nothing. I was just wondering what you're still doing up? You do realize of course that I've been calling you late on purpose so I can check on you?" Taylor said apprehensively on the phone. Corinne could almost see the worry in her gaze.  
  
"Tay, I'm fine. I'm just having some problems sleeping that's all. I'll be fine soon though, I guess my body's just not used to not doing any work anymore."  
  
"Sweetie, it's been three months. Come on, I'm sure you're not quite as chipper as you try to make me believe."  
  
"Honestly, I'm fine." Corinne looked down at the loose sweats she was wearing. She knew she looked horrible. Everyone she had seen had told her how tired she always looked, but she could never sleep. She would often just stay up all night long thinking about Matt and somehow, sleep always eluded her. Even in her dreams, all she could see was him.  
  
"I think you need a vacation. How about a nice trip to Canada? I have a free room you can use."  
  
"I'll think about it. Seriously."  
  
"Good. I have to go now before I wake up Julie, but please consider it Corinne. I think it'd do you a world of good."  
  
"I'm considering it. Now you better go before you wake her up." Corinne said.  
  
"Good night Corinne."  
  
"Good night Tay." She said.  
  
She hung up the phone and looked back at the t.v. It was almost 12:30. She stood up and stretched and then sat back down quickly when she heard a thump at her front door. She glanced nervously outside the windows. The wind was blowing strongly outside, and forecasts of snow the next morning had been all over the news that day.  
  
"The wind probably knocked something." She said calmly to herself as she glanced nervously at the door.  
  
But to be safe she slowly walked towards it and flicked on the front door light. She looked through the peephole and couldn't see anyone. Cautiously she opened the door. She looked out into the street and noticed the black corvette parked crookedly on her front yard. She was about to shut the door in fear when she heard a groan on the ground and saw a man slumped precariously on the side railing on the stairs.  
  
There was something vaguely familiar about him but in fear she was about to close the door again when she heard him say:  
  
"Please don't close the door." Matt whispered.  
  
"Matt?" She whispered disbelievingly.  
  
"Hey." He said huskily.  
  
"What are you...I mean...How did you...I... are you okay?" She stuttered and then heard him groan again.  
  
"I'm fine...I just need to talk to you." He said attempting to stand up from the railing. He finally stood in front of her and saw her crying.  
  
"Please don't...don't cry Rinnie...I..." He tried to get the words out but his lips wouldn't cooperate with him. He had never seen a more beautiful sight than her at that moment, with tears in her eyes. A sudden lightheadedness hit him and he stumbled but she caught him.  
  
"Matt! Oh my god. Come on." She said as he slumped inelegantly on her shoulder and she tried to bring him inside the house. "Matt when was the last time you had anything to eat? You look awful. I'm going to go make you a sandwich and then you're going to bed because I've never seen you as tired as this." She babbled.  
  
She was indeed concerned but her unnecessary prattle was to force herself not to think about why he was at her house. They finally got to the couch where Corinne helped him sit down. He closed his eyes, and tried to make a coherent thought in his mind. She stood back and stared at him and couldn't help but brush his hair away from his face. As soon as he felt her hand on his face he grabbed it and held it to his cheek, pulling her down on his lap. She shrieked when he pulled her on his lap, the action completely stunned her.  
  
"Matt, let me up."  
  
"No, Corinne please just listen to me. Please...if there's anyone else with you right now tell me. I need to know. If you want me to leave I will. I swear to you please just let me know how you feel about me..." He lamented as he held her in his arms.  
  
"Matt please. Look you're not thinking correctly right now, just let me ..."  
  
"No! Amy and I...we're not together, we haven't been since I met you. I had no idea you were at Jeff's house with him and that you had set up that whole surprise for me. I swear to you I didn't. I don't want to be with Amy, I want to be with you. If you don't feel the same way just tell me, tell me and put me out of my misery. I'll always love you no matter what. I can't ever forget you cause I'll always love you, it's inevitable that I'll keep on loving you for the rest of my..." Matt stopped in the middle of his ramble as she grabbed his face in two of her hands and leaned in to kiss him passionately. He kissed her back repeatedly and then pulled away, kissing her softly and slowly, over each eye, over her nose, her cheeks.  
  
"I love you too Matt." She said. She knew now what had been missing before, it was him. Losing him for the past few months had turned her life into an empty shell and she knew that she would never lose him again.  
  
"I love you so much." He said. He lay down on the couch still holding on to her. She kissed him on his neck softly and then heard his even quiet breathing. She carefully disentangled herself from him and stood up next to the couch. She tenderly traced the tired lines on his face, saw the dark shadows under his eyes and the utter exhaustion in him and yet she smiled. She put a blanket on top of him and went up to her own bedroom to sleep 


	45. ch 45

Chapter 45  
  
He woke up disconcertedly on the couch in complete darkness, his arm knocking over the side table. A heavy depression settled in him again when he thought that it was just a dream. He tried to close his eyes again and tried to go back to the dream, she had seemed so near by, he had felt her in his arms again.  
  
"God, is my life going to be like this forever? Comparing every single accomplishment to the dizzy tumult caused by one of her smiles?" He thought to himself...and then he heard her...  
  
"Matt? Are you okay?" She said her feet barely touching the floor as she ran down the stairs. She had heard him call out in the night...  
  
"Corinne? Oh god. It is really you! It wasn't a dream." He said happily. He rose quickly from the couch to try to go to her but fell back down again.  
  
"Matt, don't try to stand. Look, let me just get you some food and I'll...ah!" She yelled when as she got to the couch, Matt used the last of his strength to stand up and pick her up.  
  
"Matt you idiot! Put me down! You're tired." She yelled at him.  
  
  
  
He didn't respond and kept walking, up the stairs and into her bedroom. Gently he placed her on the bed.  
  
  
  
  
  
"No food Corinne. Right now all I need is you and sleep." He said before pulling her to him and falling immediately asleep. 


	46. ch 46

Chapter 46  
  
Corinne awoke to soft kisses on her face. "Corinne?" He said. She sighed in her sleep and cuddled up the hard warmth next to heron the bed.  
  
"Matt..." She whispered.  
  
"I'm here baby." He said smiling to himself. She probably had no idea that he had been up all day and had already gone to the store to buy some things. She looked adorable; her curly hair tumbled around her face and completely wrapped in blankets.  
  
"God, if this is a dream, I never...ever...want to wake up again."  
  
"How about we just stay in this bed forever then?" He said in her ear.  
  
"Okay," She sighed then cuddled even closer to him.  
  
"But you know we're going to have to talk about everything. Sooner or later." He said seriously.  
  
"I know," she sighed and opened one eye to find him showered and shaved and dressed in new clothes.  
  
"When did you..."  
  
"You've been sleeping all day. I guess you were having trouble sleeping too huh?" He said.  
  
"Yes...but now that you're here..." She paused when he placed a finger over her lips.  
  
"I can tell you what truly happened that night." He finished solemnly.  
  
"What did happen that night?" She said hesitatingly, "Everything was supposed to be perfect and then I saw you two...together.  
  
"No...I went to Jeff's because Amy called me on her phone and said she had a problem. She was crying and even though I knew that she would make another attempt to get me back I went because she was my friend. I never kissed her either, she grabbed me. And I'm assuming that was all you saw?" Matt said.  
  
"Yes...that was it."  
  
"I finally pulled away from her and I told her that I loved you. And then she told me that you wanted to be with Jeff..."  
  
"Jeff? Matt no! I've never wanted to be with Jeff, you're the only one I've ever wanted to be with I swear..."  
  
He kissed her softly to stop her. "I know. I just...I was jealous and afraid and when I walked in the house all I saw were you guys hugging and I made my own conclusions..."  
  
"The door..."she recalled.  
  
"The door." He affirmed.  
  
"And I guess this whole time I was just scared to try and find out why you would have gone to Jeff. I was scared..."  
  
"I...Matt why? Had you just told me.... had you even called once, I think I would have forgiven you. I missed you so much. And all I could think of was the fact that you chose her over me."  
  
"No." He said vehemently.  
  
"I would never have chosen her over you. You're the most important thing in my life. These past few months have been horrible. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat...and worst of all I couldn't wrestle. I was a complete prick to everyone, I think I broke Rob's nose yesterday not to mention that a lot of the other guys didn't want to wrestle me cause I was too stiff." Matt said.  
  
"Really...but wrestling is your life...it's the most important thing...it's your dream." She said fervently.  
  
"You're right...it was my dream. But you're my life. You're everything to me and nothing is worth anything without you. Corinne, will you marry me?" He said taking out his most important purchase of the day, a 2.5-karat diamond ring.  
  
"Oh my god..." she whispered. Matt looked into her eyes and she knew she could never live without him.  
  
"Yes!" She yelled out before launching herself onto him and kissing him deeply. 


	47. epilogue

Epilogue  
  
"See Jules, flower girls can't be in between the bride and groom during the wedding, it's just not possible." Jeff whispered to the pouting little girl he held in his arms. He tried to fix the crooked wreath on her head as she shook her head at him. "Because after the priest says, 'I pronounce you man and wife.' they have to kiss and you can't be in the middle." Jeff stopped as the priest said, 'You may kiss the bride,' and Matt leaned down to softly kiss Corinne.  
  
The crowd erupted in cheers and jeers, as both the bride and groom seemed to forget the rest of the people in the church and continued kissing.  
  
"Oh, I get it, so everyone knows they're going to kiss each other?" Julie whispered back to him.  
  
"Yep...It's inevitable Jules, completely and utterly, inevitable." Jeff said as he watched the groom pick up his bride and carry her out of the church. The inevitable had happened....  
  
The End  
  
Hey guys, I hope you liked this story. I really enjoyed writing and loved all of your reviews. Thanks a lot. Please leave me a review and tell me how you guys liked the story as a whole. 


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